Animorphs Forever
by Larania Drake
Summary: Ax runs into a girl literally, and she ends up having more of a secret than he does.
1. Default Chapter Title

****

Animorphs Forever

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to K.A.A. and Scholastic. I make no money from this.

Ax was in the mall.

That was hardly a surprise, he seemed to spend a great deal of time there, eating and even thinking about his beloved cinnamon buns.

He had his mouth full, sitting at one of the many benches that lined the halls of the mall, when he realized that he was thirsty. In fact, he wondered if his tongue would become glued to the back of this throat.

He remembered that there was a machine that dispensed drinks at the food court. It would be a longish walk, but that would be worth it to keep on breathing, as he felt was going on.

On the way there, he had to dodge many milling humans, making him think that he was a type of earth fish that he couldn't remember, which would swim up stream. It was then, that his attention was directed to a bright sign of the Sharing, and he wasn't looking in front of him.

"Oomph," he heard, as he was knocked into the wall next to him. The human that he had collided with was taller than he was, female, and her nose was in a book. He also noticed that she had a rather shabby appearance compared to that of the other humans he had met, her hair hacked off with a dull blade, dyed green, with a shiny metal button in her nose and black makeup. She seemed to be the same age as his human friends.

Looking surprised, the human reached out to grab his arm before he could fall over.

"Are you all right?" she asked, looking very surprised.

"I believe that I will b-be fffine," he told her, feeling a little dumbfounded that someone could walk into another, and seem as unaffected as she.

"Oh, that's good. I'm sorry. I get like that sometimes."

"Get like what?" asked Ax, thinking that he one day he would understand humans, but it would be the day that yeerks had wings, he thought the saying was.

"Kind of dazed. I was reading this new book that I bought, and I started to drift out of reality for a bit."

"Oh." Only, it came out a little muffled, because he was still trying to swallow his cinnamon bun. Only, he found that he couldn't quite do so, because of her smell.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

"I am fine, thank you."

"Oh, okay."

The girl walked off, and Ax was left thinking that something in his life had just gotten a little stranger.

**Later**

The girl was walking back to the bus station, which would take her back to where she had been squatting for the past several months. She would need to be moving on soon.

She had been saving up for a while to be able to buy the book she had gotten at the mall that day. Snorting wryly to herself, she thought that if there was any weakness that she might have, it was books.

Crossing the road, she noticed something. The boy that she had literally run into earlier was crossing the road behind her, but it was next to a blind corner. She could see around it, while he couldn't, and there was a car that was speeding towards him.

Ax was trying to get back to the bus that would take him back to Cassie's farm, when he was hit from behind.

He went sprawling on the other side of the road, and there was a squealing of tires, and a loud, bone-breaking crunch as a body rolled up the front of the car, and into the windshield, shattering it.

"That could have been me," Ax said aloud, grateful that he was alive. It was all he could think about for several minutes.

Realizing what his life had cost someone, he ran over. The girl, the one that he had met earlier, had saved his life.

He tried to remember what he had learned of human biology, and find where her vitals were. Only, it was obvious from the angle of her neck, that it was broken.

He still tried to find a pulse, but there was none to be found. She was dead.

The person in the car was shouting, and he knew that he would have to leave, soon. He couldn't afford to be caught out in the open like that.

There wasn't anything he could do for her. 

Feeling like he had let her down, whoever she was, he ran into a nearby alley, and morphed into a seagull. 

"You just left her there?" Cassie said, incredulously. 

I didn't have much choice, Ax said, feeling guilty.

"Lay off, Cassie," interrupted Marco. "What else could he have done? There is no record of Ax anywhere. What would they have done when they found out that? There are Controllers in the police force, you know that."

"But, still, we need to find out who that girl was."

"I agree," said Jake, who was standing next to Cassie.

What do you think we need to do, hack into the city morgue? commented Tobias.

"That would be a good idea. We need to see who her family is, and stuff like that."

"Let's do it," finished Rachel, but her voice was much sadder than it normally would be.

****

At the Morgue

The body of Morgan lay still, naked and cold, on a metal shelf in the city morgue.

**Gasp**

Anyone who saw what happened next would have doubted his or her sanity, as Morgan's eyes opened. Eyes wide, not with the open reflex of death, but with someone staring out of them.

"Great, this again,' she muttered. Sitting up, she tossed off the paper blanket that covered her. "Okay, now to find my clothes."

"Of all the stupid ways to die," she snorted as she wrapped the paper blanket around her, sarong fashion. "I wonder if I'll ever be able to find my book again."

Unfortunately, Morgan had been in this situation more than once, and had learned that most morgues had more or less the same layout. Which meant that she wouldn't have much trouble finding her stuff. She only hoped that they hadn't found her weapons.

Morgan was stuck forever at the physical age of fourteen. She had died over six years ago with her parents in a car crash, and had been fortunate to be found by an immortal who would teach her, instead of kill her.

She had trained for three of the past six years since her death, and if she was bigger, she might have been a great swordswoman. While she was tall for her physical age, she was still much smaller than most female immortals, and was thus easy prey. 

Duncan had been kind to her, she thought, as she scurried into the evidence rooms. Wrinkling her nose that the astringent smell, she found the bag containing her things. In it, was her clothing, which still had bloodstains, her book, and _si,_ which was what she had been worried about. Morgan dressed quickly, because the room was cold, and tucked her weapons away. She never kept all of them on her body, unless she was traveling, so the rest of her things should still be in her flop.

Shouldering her pack, she started for the door, but ducked behind a set of shelves when she heard the faint scuffing of shoes on tiles.

Her hands darted the places where she kept her _si,_ and she got them ready.

"Visser Three, honestly, we are doing all we can to cover up our latest experiments, but we can't keep that many bodies hidden for long."

Peeking around the shelf, as the two men, one in a lad coat and sounding desperate, the other in a suit, who look barely short of homicidal. Neither where immortal, she sighed with relief.

_Wait a minute, _she thought, _what that guy mean by experiments?_

Once they had passed her by, she had a clear path out. Her mind, though, refused to let her go.

_It's none of my business!_

Oh, yeah, it wasn't Mac's business to help you, either!

Snarling at her conscience, Morgan stood up from her crouch, and padded along behind them.

Ax and Tobias had decided to go say goodbye to the unknown girl. They had hacked into the computer system there, and it turned out that she was a runaway. No one knew her name, and her fingerprints were not on file, anywhere. She was due for cremation, alone.

Do you think that she was abused, or something? Tobias asked. They had been trying to figure out the reason that she would have run away. 

I don't know, and I don't think that we ever will.

Pity. Tobias was morphing human to open the window into the freezer. 

Ax was also in bird morph, but would be a bit more conspicuous than Tobias if he demorphed to use his hands.

"I can't get it undone," Tobias grunted, when the latches on the window refused to give for him.

I will get it, said Ax, and he began to demorph. Tobias snorted in surprise and demorphed himself, to keep a lookout. Ax used his tail to hack through the screen and they morphed to human to wiggle in.

It was then that they heard a voice that they both hated.

"I will not settle for anymore excuses, Iniss 7890," hissed Visser Three.

"What?" exclaimed Tobias.

"There are so many mutilations on the bodies, sir that I can't keep people from finding out-"

"I told you, no more excuses!"

"If you would only take a look-"

It was a rare moment that the two Animorphs heard. The Visser kept his temper.

"All right, Inis 7890," he hissed. "Show me these… mutilations."

We've got to get out of here, said Tobias.

We don't have time to morph! answered Ax.

The door opened.

Tobias was demorphing as fast as he could, with Ax right at his heels. 

There was a loud crash from behind them, and Visser Three whipped his head around to see what it was.

"Damn!" Morgan yelled, using her entire twenty years of experience at swearing to make some very colorful combinations.

They had seen her.

Hopefully they wouldn't recognize her, but that didn't mean squat if they caught her.

The two men looked at her like a wolf at a rabbit, and she hopped out at fast as her feet would move.

Of course, Morgan wouldn't know about the Visser's guards.

"Seize her!" roared Visser Three.

She hadn't seen his two goons, which grabbed at her. Her _si_ were ready, and she slashed at the first one's eyes. 

Balancing on one foot, she lashed out with a lunging side kick, and hit the other guard's knee. There was loud crack as it bent in the wrong direction. Landing on her left knee, she spun around with her other leg out, and swept the other man off his feet. 

"Ugh!" she groaned, and fell, when a dracon beam hit her back.

She dropped over, her back a piece of scorched meat.

NO! yelled Ax from behind, as he and Tobias ran out, and attacked. Reaching over, Ax pulled Morgan on his back, and they ran out, and back to the forest.

Morgan awoke to the strangest feeling. She was on something warm and furry, but it was heaving oddly. Like a horse, only it couldn't be, there was something wrong with the slope of the back, and the smell was different…

Gasping, her eyes opened, to find that she was clinging to the back of a – a- blue alien?

"What the fraggin' hell?" Morgan screamed, seeing the sleek tail blade that arched up from behind her. _That _was what scared her. If that thing realized what she was, it could kill her faster than anything anyone else could do.

It was running, and the last thing she remembered were those two men trying to capture her. She could hear the sound of hooves hitting the ground beneath her. It was then that she looked up. Above her, there were little things that looked like bugs, only-

"Look out!" she yelled, diving from the back of whatever it was that she was riding.

It's eyes looked up, and they saw the same thing that she did, as they fired.

"RUN!" Morgan shouted, and they all scattered.

The Animorphs were the ones that the Bug fighters followed, and they left Morgan alone.

Sobbing for air, the immortal fourteen-year-old ran to the place where she had been staying for the last three months.

It was a mausoleum. It kept her dry, and since it was on holy ground, she didn't have to worry about anyone trying for her head when she was asleep. Inside, were several cans of food, her blanket roll, and her other weapons.

Morgan's last job had been delivering papers in the morning. It had given her enough money that she had been able to buy supplies for about a month, and to get a new book.

Her last few books she had had to sell to be able to eat. That was the problem with being fourteen, but really twenty: no one would hire you.

"Okay, Morgan, what did you just see? There was definitely a blue alien, you were definitely hit in the back with some sort of energy beam," she rubbed that back of her neck in remembered pain. "And, there was something mentioned about experiments. So, does this mean that the people that had me were the good guys, or…"

She closed her eyes, and leaned into the cool stone of the walls. Those things were trying to kill them. Not just her, because they hadn't followed her when she had run. That meant that she had an enemy, but whether those people were her friends or not, Morgan didn't know.

Sliding to the floor of her temporary shelter and opening her eyes again, Morgan rummaged through her bags until she came up with some jerky. Chewing it, she thought some more.

"They wouldn't have much trouble finding me if I stay here, anyway," she sighed, and started to pack. 

She had been given a long black duster by her teacher Mac, where she kept the two butterfly swords she would use when someone came after her. The pair of _si_ went into her belt, and her _bo_, which doubled as a walking staff, she kept handy. Her bedroll went into her backpack, along with her one other change of clothing.

"I guess I try to see where that blue guy went, and hope he doesn't realize that I was at the morgue because I was dead. (sigh) I hope I don't wind up there again."

****

In the Barn

"What happened?" asked Jake, seeing the burns that could only be caused be dracon beams.

We were attacked by Visser Three, Prince Jake, answered Ax.

Stunned silence.

"Was she a Controller?" asked Marco, but he answered his own question. "No, a Controller wouldn't die to save someone."

She wasn't dead, burst out Tobias, who had been freaking out ever since they had seen her wake up, and run off.

"You did check her pulse, didn't you?" asked Cassie.

Not the second time.

"Second time?"

The second time she was killed. We had sneaked in, and where in human morph, when we heard Visser Three. There was a loud crash, which gave us time to demorph, and it was that girl again. But, she was hit by a dracon beam in the back, and there was no way she could have survived it. I tried to get Ax to leave her, but he went and got her body. We ran out, and then, and then-

She woke up after a while, when we were being strafed by some Bug fighters. She yelled for us to get away, and then ran away herself, ended Ax, who was not much more composed than Tobias.

"Uh, how'd she do that?" Marco commented.

"I don't want to tackle that one," said Rachel, who was sprawled out on a hay bale.

"Uh, what are we going to do about it?"

"I have no idea, but I think that we had better ask Erek before we do anything further," suggested Jake.

"Why?"

""Cause he would have some information, hopefully, about what the yeerks know about it, and maybe he has heard about people coming back to life, and what could cause it."

****

At Ax's Scoop

Man, I don't think I want to go to sleep tonight, groused Tobias, but he was worried. I can still see the dead girl just jumping up, and, man, that was just too weird.

I agree. It was strange. What I am worried about, is what Visser Three would do if he could find an immortal host.

Even though Tobias was a hawk, he tried his best to shudder.

Don't even think about it.

****

At the Edge of the Woods

Morgan was wondering where to look first. 

She had seen the alien go off in a certain direction, and that meant-

There was a forest. He looked like a horse, so it would be at least logical to assume that it would be able to survive there, and it would be obvious cover.

"Okay, I hope it can find me," she sighed, and charged in.

****

The King Residence

"So, have you heard anything about people coming back from the dead, Erek?" asked Jake, who was sitting on one of the couches in the King house.

"Other than ourselves? Nothing that can be confirmed," said Mr. King, before Erek could answer.

"Confirmed?"

The hologram of Erek sighed, and looked at his 'father' with disgust. 

"You aren't going to bring that up again, are you? There are no such thing as humans that only die when someone cuts their head off!"

The Animorphs sat there, wondering what was going on. It sounded like that they had stepped into the middle of an old argument, one that may have been taking place for thousands of years.

"Um, can we get some answers this century?" asked Rachel, who, with the rest, had listened politely to their argument as it went on. 

Looking annoyed, Erek sat back, and Mr. King started.

"There are-"

"Supposedly!" shouted Erek, interrupting.

"Okay, supposedly, humans out there that can only die if someone takes off their head. They can't die otherwise. They are all foundlings, and no one knows where they come from. They are usually adopted by someone.

"They don't know that they are immortal until their first death, and if they are lucky, they are found by a teacher, or they are killed without ever knowing what it was that they became. For some reason they fight. I don't know why."

Mr. King had the expression of someone who was telling one of their favorite old stories. Erek looked like he had been sucking on lemons.

"So, um, is there anything else you can say about it?" asked Jake, delicately.

"No. That is all I know, and probably the most you will ever find. The person who told me this died right after he told me, which makes me believe that he might have actually known something."

"Uh-huh, thank you, Mr. King. We will be leaving now," said Marco, in a nice, talking to the crazy person voice.

"Well, that was a waste of time," remarked Rachel as they left the house.

"We could only try," snapped back Cassie. The whole day had been rather unreal for all of them, and that was saying something.

"Whoa, Cassie sounded mean," Marco joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Everybody groaned, even though it worked, and they headed back to the barn to discuss their next move.

"A barn?" said Morgan, feeling a little surprised. It then started to rain.

"Oh, hell," she moaned. Morgan pulled the hood of her duster up, but the shower got harder.

"I hope whoever owns that thing doesn't get in much, and has a hayloft."

****

A Weird Meeting

No one was there when Morgan walked into the barn, except for a lot of animals. Most were injured.

"Whoa. Nice to see someone with some civic duty, but so much for hoping that no one gets in often. I guess I just lay low."

Climbing into the hayloft, Morgan sighed and unrolled her blankets. 

"Well, since it's dark I doubt anyone will be showing up tonight. I hope not, anyway. I get to sleep soft." With that, she wrapped herself up in her blankets, and settled down. She was exhausted. 

For a few hours, Morgan was able to doze, listening to the sound of rain tapping on the roof, and the rustle of the animals beneath her.

She started to dream….

__

I'm at school.

What am I doing here? I haven't been to school since…

Well, maybe that was all a bad dream, and I didn't die. Of course I didn't. People don't die and come back from the dead. To many comics, that's the problem.

Everything is just the way it was before, before that awful dream.

Including, oh no. Not her.

Candace the seventh grade bully is here too. I guess that definitely means I'm not dreaming.

Wait, if I'm dreaming, I'll look in a mirror, and that'll tell me. I would look different, wouldn't I?

I walk into the bathroom, and see…

Myself. The way I was. Round cheeks, glasses, long hair, chubby, and always with a nose in a book.

"Oh, there you are, you little twerp," sneered Candace.

"Will you leave me alone?" I said, shocked that I would speak up like that.

"Look at her clothes! She dresses like she came from a convent!"

"Stayed Puffed Marshmallow Girl!"

"Bulldog!"

"Shut Up!" I screamed at them.

I turned to run, but there was the sound of squealing tires, and-

"What are we going to do about that girl?" asked Cassie.

Morgan had heard them come in, which was what had made her wake up. Rolling onto her stomach, she peeked over the side of the loft. Had Tobias been there, they would have found out about her already, but he wasn't, obviously.

"Girl?" she said under her breath.

"Well, most people don't come back from the dead. In fact, since it is an impossibility anyway, why don't we just get on to finding her anyway."

"This is getting weirder by the minute," Morgan commented.

"I'm going to fly out to tell Ax and Tobias that we're going to go as owls to scout over the town to see if we can spot her. Green hair shouldn't be that hard to find."

Before Morgan's eyes, one of the two girls, the black one, started to change. It was the spookiest things that she had ever seen.

The girl seemed to melt, but only in parts. Yet as the others followed suit, she could tell that the first was the one who did it the most…gracefully, if the word could be applied.

Morgan's leg was going numb. Without thinking about it, she casually stretched it back…

I heard something! exclaimed a voice that was heard only inside her mind.

Hissing, Morgan lurched back from the side, and an osprey flew up in front of her.

She's here!

Scrambling back, Morgan pulled out her _si_, and tried to defend herself.

She dived down, then, and did a flip from the loft onto the ground.

"Okay, who the heck are you people, what are you, and why are you looking for me?"

Pretty much all the Animorphs were all bird right then, and Marco had taken the opportunity to run to get Ax and Tobias.

We're the Animorphs, said Jake. At that point, everyone was in shock, with no real idea of how to deal with what was going on. 

Who're you? said Rachel, not impressed by the Goth in front of her.

"Name's Morgan. Why are you looking for me?"

Uh, cause you were dead, and you saved a friend of ours… trailed off Cassie. It seemed that their strange hero had turned into a rabid cat.

Cassie had started to demorph, and was looking down at Morgan helplessly. They didn't want to hurt her, but there was the question of whether or not she could be hurt.

I was the one that you saved, and I wanted to say thank you, but we thought that you had died in the accident, said a voice that came from another bird of prey that was winging its way inside the barn.

"You were that kid that I ran into?" Morgan said incredulously. She looked over at the bird. Gaining a little of her aplomb back, she stated, "I survived, I was unconscious, but I was alive."

Than how do you explain that we saw you dead from a dracon beam later? said another voice, this time coming from a red-tailed hawk.

"Now, there is another hawk talking to me. Can things get worse?" Morgan said rhetorically.

Yes, responded Ax, as he started to demorph. Soon, standing on four hooves, was an Andalite.

"You're that blue dude!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

"I (giggle) don't think that anyone (gasp) has ever called Ax a 'blue (snort) _dude_," Rachel announced, doubling over, tears running down her face.

"What was you're first reaction to seeing an alien, might I ask?" responded Morgan acidly. She was keeping a close eye on the tail-blade. 

"We," and abruptly, everyone in the room sobered. "We wanted to run, but we didn't. I don't think that I had ever been more scared in my life," answered Jake, quietly. "Well, that came later. First, we met Prince Elfangor, who was Ax's brother. He gave us the power that you've seen us use…"

He went on, describing how he and his friends had come to be made aware of an alien plot to take over all life on earth. If she hadn't seen Ax and the others morphing with her own eyes, Morgan wouldn't have believed it.

"So, you can become any animal, not an inanimate object, or a plant, but any animal, that you can touch?" she said, not as a question, but as an expression of wonder.

"Okay, now, you talk," said Marco.

Turning to face him, Marco abruptly found himself pinned by a pair of gray eyes.

"About what?" she said softly.

"The fact that you came back from the dead, duh," said Rachel. Now that they had obviously found who they were looking for, they had demorphed. They all stood around Morgan, almost like they were trying to keep her from getting away.

"I don't know what you are talking about," was the flat reply.

"Come on, Ax saw you die. We told you what we are, and what is at stake. You could do the same for us."

"Why? Why should I admit anything to you? What makes you think that whatever it is that I'm hiding is less important that what you are doing?"

Because, Ax started, when he whipped his tail-blade around, slashing her arm before she could block, and gently grabbing it, You did die to save me, and maybe we can help you.

There was a neat slice in the sleeve where Ax's blade had cut, and he opened it up so everyone could watch it heal.

_Help. _

For some reason, the thought made her feel sad. There had been no one, ever since she had left Seacover that had given a damn about her. It made her feel… almost happy.

"How old do I look?" Morgan asked.

The Animorphs looked at each other, and they shrugged. "About thirteen, fourteen?" answered Cassie. 

"I'm twenty. I can't die, unless someone cuts off my head, and takes my…life force, I guess you would call it. I died the first time in a car crash, with my parents."

"Well, score one for Mr. King," twitted Marco, trying to be funny, but failing miserably.

"So there really are people out there that run around cutting each other's heads off?" Jake was more than a little spooked.

"That's cool," Rachel said without thinking.

Morgan's eyes became glacial when she spoke. "Cool, huh? Yeah, I guess it would be cool, having to live in the streets, because you can't stay in any one place for too long, because they would realize you aren't what you seem? Being hunted for your head, and knowing that someday, someone will take it, because you weren't mature enough to fight them? Not being to enjoy being a teenager when you actually were one because you were to busy trying to train to stay alive, and not being able to get a job, because you're "too young"?"

She raised a contemptuous eyebrow, and Rachel kind of shrank into herself.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Cassie commented, stepping between the two. She could tell that there would be a major spat between them eventually, but she wanted to head it off for now.

"It's getting late, and I think that we all need to get home so that we can get some rest. Where are you staying, Morgan?" asked Jake, taking control of the situation.

"Nowhere. I was walking here from where I squatted for the past few months, but the yeerks may have seen where I went. So I decided to leave."

Turning to Cassie, Jake asked, "Cassie, can she spend the night here?"

Cassie nodded.

"You'll need to get some sort of disguise," he went on. "Um…Would you mind re-dying your hair?"

Touching rough shorn, green mess, Morgan grimaced. "This? I only went Goth to get people to leave me alone. Plus, it's easier to keep up than you might think."

"Come on, we can get you some food," Cassie told her, taking her hand to lead her inside.

"Yes, Little Mother," said Morgan, and she did something she rarely ever tried. She smiled.

****

End Part One


	2. Default Chapter Title

****

Animorphs Forever 2: Soul's Edge

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic and the Great K.A.A., and Highlander belongs to Rysher, not me. I only own Morgan. I make no money from this, and so if you are going to sue me, well, you'll come out all the poorer for it, because I haven't got any money to give you.

**Cassie's Home**

Cassie and Rachel were talking, trying to decide what to do about Morgan. It was a soft, hushed discussion, one with the tone of something earth shattering, and if it would effect the rest of their fight with the yeerks. It sounded life or death.

Actually, they where trying to choose which kind of dye to use to redo her hair.

At the moment, Morgan was in the shower; her first in months. Rachel had come over after going to her house when Cassie realized that she had nothing for Morgan to wear, and that she didn't have any hair dye, either.

So, to the mall Rachel had went, and with the focus of a general about to go to combat, she had gotten some clothes that would approximate Morgan's size, and two bottles of hair color, dark brown, and light brown.

They heard the shower stop, but Morgan didn't come out immediately. Setting out the old shirt of her father's and some underwear, Rachel and Cassie left the room so she could get dressed.

Twenty minutes passed.

"What could be taking so long?" muttered Rachel, looking at her watch.

"We could knock?" suggested Cassie, reaching over and knocking on the door. There was a muffled, "Come in."

They found her staring at a mirror, looking at herself like she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing.

"Well, I never thought that I would see _that_ in a mirror," Morgan said softly.

"See what?" 

Looking up to glance at Rachel and Cassie, she went back to the mirror and gave her reflection a strange look.

"Me, looking like a someone out of a punk rock band. I used to be the classic fat kid. You know, smart, but as plump as they come. I was picked on a lot."

She rubbed her nose, and touched the nose ring. Sighing, she took it out.

"Now, I go back to the way I was, at least until I have to move on."

She had started to head over to the sink, and looked at the dye bottles. 

"Couldn't think of something a little more imaginative, now, could you?"

"Brown blends in, and I think that was what Jake had in mind," answered Rachel.

"My natural color was red, but this will do," Morgan mumbled, and opened up the box.

They took a good two hours finishing with her hair, and by then, Rachel had gone home, and the other two went on to bed.

Morgan had taught herself to wake up early so she could do her usual exercises, and for a moment, didn't know where she was. There was a panicked moment when she reached for her _si_, and didn't find them, her hands clutching at cloth.

Sitting up with a muffled cry, she looked around, eyes wide with shock.

"What? What is it?" came the startled voice of Cassie, waking up.

"Where- Cassie," Morgan rasped. She found that she was at the foot of Cassie's bed, with a death grip on the blanket she had wrapped up in to sleep. 

"Are you okay?"

"I'm, I'm fine, shaken, not stirred."

"Nightmare?"

"No," Morgan answered tersely, and she stood up. "Um, you have any shorts I could borrow? I need to go for my run."

Looking at her alarm clock, Cassie responded, "It's five in the morning." 

"I have to practice. Look, I'm sorry that I woke you, but do you mind?" Morgan was standing next to Cassie's bed, looking down. Rachel had trimmed her hair, so it was even and it hung around her chin. Cassie was looking up and sighed.

"I'll go with you. I need to start feeding the animals anyway. You held me do that, and I'll go jogging. Kay?"

Morgan gave her a choppy nod. Finding a pair of shorts for her to borrow, she had Cassie headed out to the barn.

Both girls were yawning as the scraped out the old food, replaced it with new, and did the same with the water. All during this, Morgan would do the occasional stretch, and when they were done, Cassie watched her do the splits, lunges, and a couple of kicks.

"That'll do. You think you can keep up?" she asked Cassie, who was still looking at her like she was an alien life form.

They ran, and Cassie wondered if she would ever stop being sore by the time they got back. 

She was doubled over, and gasping, but she saw that Morgan wasn't as bad off, although she looked like she wished she was somewhere else.

"I really, really hate this," she gasped, resting her hands of her knees and breathing deeply.

"Oh?"

"Cause if means that I can't be a normal kid, that's why. It means that I have to do this, to stay alive." She grimaced as she said that. 

"Sorry."

"For what?"

It was then that Cassie's father came out.

"Hey, you already done all the feeding, Cassie?" he said, then caught sight of Morgan.

"And you are?" he asked, putting out his hand.

"Name's Anna, sir," Morgan lied glibly. "I just moved here."

"Uh, yeah, new to school," followed up Cassie.

"Well, you girls had better get your showers and ready for class, or you'll be late," he finished, and shambled back into the house for his third cup of coffee.

Morgan's eyebrows went up, and she mouthed the word 'school' with surprise.

Cassie grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

The Bus

"Hi, Jake," Marco mumbled. He had been up last night, finishing homework that was three days late, and he hadn't gotten much sleep.

Jake nodded sleepily back, and they were waiting on Cassie. Rachel was dozing on the seat across from them.

Cassie walked on, but was followed by Morgan.

That made them wonder if their sanity was finally gone.

"I know, I'm as flabbergasted as you are."

Rachel had awoken, and was shooting daggers out of her eyes at Morgan.

It was a long bus ride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

The Cafeteria

Morgan had accompanied Cassie to all her classes, saying that she was a friend from a private school out of state.

They had finally gone to lunch, and Morgan had been hearing her stomach rumble loudly.

"Hungry?" asked Rachel, and Morgan had the undignified thought of driving her fist into Rachel's face.

"Yes, I am," she answered. She didn't have any lunch money, so she had to watch the others eat.

"I'd be happy to buy you lunch, 'Anna," Rachel taunted.

"Fine," Morgan answered, taking her bluff that she would be too proud to accept the offer.

"Wha?" she exclaimed taken aback.

"Thank you for the offer," 'Anna' said sweetly, and stood.

Everyone else snickered, seeing what Morgan had done. Not able to back down, not without loosing face, Rachel got up and went with her.

"What is the deal with them?" asked Marco, who had noticed their behavior.

"What we have," said Cassie with a straight face, "is a case of two alpha bitches in the same territory."

The boys looked at her, because they had never heard her speak like that.

Seeing their expressions, and chuckling to herself, Cassie went on, "The problem, gentleman, it that Rachel has always been the dominant female here. She isn't used to having another female that could compete with her in her territory. In such cases, either they come to mutual respect, or they try to kill each other. And I, personally, wouldn't want to see the outcome."

The two "alpha bitches" came back, with Morgan having a loaded tray, and Rachel looking furious.

"Why, thank you, Rachel," said Morgan as they sat.

"It was my," Rachel gritted her teeth, "pleasure." 

Morgan gave her a slight smile, and dug into her meal. She started into her tray with a fervor that was startling, and was halfway through when she jerked up.

Her eyes opened wide, but then she became so interested in her food that you wouldn't have noticed that something had happened.

Unbeknownst to the Animorphs, there was another immortal in the cafeteria. Morgan had sensed him or her, and she wasn't going to take any chances. She had had enough people after her head, and she made surreptitious glances throughout the room, trying to find someone who was doing the same.

He was coming towards her, although he didn't seem to realize it yet. She could see him making his own search of the room, but he was focused mainly on the adults.

Feeling relieved, Morgan started to drop her eyes, but their gazes crossed, and Morgan's blood turned to ice water in her heart. 

He caught her eyes again, and smiled cruelly. 

"Hello, Mr. Chapman," Morgan heard Jake say from beside her.

"Why, hello, Jake," Mr. Chapman said. Beside him, was a large man, who looked like he could easily have been a professional wrestler.

While they spoke, Morgan found herself evaluating the other man. Strong, she thought, certainly, but speed…

"Who is this?" Chapman asked, seeing Morgan for the first time.

Looking down at her plate and acting shy, Morgan answered him in a soft voice, twisting her napkin in her hands, "I'm Anna."

"Anna is a friend from out of state," Jake said. 

"From a private school," Marco almost shouted. For a moment, it looked like Rachel might refute that, but she wasn't that stupid.

Keeping her eyes down, she fumbled for a pair of reading glasses she didn't need anymore since becoming immortal, and put them on her face.

She looked up, and smiled bashfully.

Morgan hoped that they got the impression of a young, nerdy girl who was too shy to talk. The expression of the other man's face, though, said that he wasn't fooled.

"Oh, yes, where are my manners. This is Mr. Hamilton, our new gym teacher."

Mr. Chapman introduced everyone, but Mr. Hamilton kept smiling at 'Anna' like he was about to laugh. 

"Well, I need to get going. Mr. Hamilton, if you would?" gesturing to the exit, they left.

The breath that Morgan didn't realize that she was holding escaped in a rush.

"What had you so nervous?" sniped Rachel.

"That guy, he was an immortal," she whispered. Her face was pale.

"Huh?"

"He was an immortal. I can tell, because, well, we can tell, that's all. He recognized me."

"So, what does that mean?" asked Jake.

"It'll depend on whether or not he's the type to go after kids. The best plan would be for me to be on guard, so that when he does come, I'll be able to get out of the way."

"I thought Marco was paranoid," muttered Rachel.

"Oh, shut up, Barbie."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

In the Hallway

"You understand why we hired you," said Chapman, the body that hosted Iniss 226.

"Yes, to find these "Andalite Bandits," as you call them," said Mr. Hamilton, smirking.

Mr. 'Hamilton,' as he called himself, knew a lot about aliens. The Skrit Na had kidnapped him a few years after he had become immortal. At that time he thought that the gods had taken him to some great destiny. Only, it had turned out that they weren't gods at all.

He had ended up spending several centuries among the stars, something other humans could only dream of. It helped that he was completely immoral, and that he had developed quite a reputation as a bounty hunter. So, after the Andalite Bandits had reared their heads, and Visser Three had been having spectacular bad luck trying to capture them, the Council of Thirteen had decided to bring in a professional.

An immortal professional. Fortunately no one, until humans had been reintroduced into the galaxy, had known about human life-spans, so no alien had been able to figure out why he had lived so long, and why he didn't seem to age. There was simply nothing to compare him to.

The yeerks, of course, had tried to make him into a Controller, but that was one of the worst mistakes they had ever made. They had even forgiven him for what he had done in retaliation, after the fires had been put out. Eventually.

"Oh, yes, I would like to add something to my payment," Hamilton said casually.

"What?" asked Chapman through gritted teeth.

"That girl, Anna, I would like to have the privilege of killing her."

Chapman's face twisted into a nasty smile. "That can be arranged."

"So what was this about the Visser setting up a trap?" he asked casually.

"He's gotten one of the Feeders from the Gamut system. He's going to morph it, and then draw the bandits into a confined area, where he will unleash the real thing on them. The only problem with the plan is that almost all the Controllers that get near it to pacify it are killed, or eaten.

"By the way, we found out something a little odd about you."

"Yes?" 

"You heal, very, very fast."

"Yes, the Skrit Na had a rather fun time of that," Hamilton answered coldly. 

Chapman was put off, but he didn't mention the Visser's attempts to try to find others like him, and the havoc that had resulted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

The Barn

All the Animorphs were in the barn, even Tobias and Ax. They were talking about what to do about Morgan.

"Well, we can't kill her, because she hasn't done anything wrong. For that matter, I'm not eve sure that we could kill her."

"So, what do we do with her? Give her the morphing power?" smart mouthed Rachel. 

"I think that might be a good idea," answered Ax. He was in human morph, and Tobias was having an interesting time keeping him from eating the bird feed.

"WHAT!" she shrieked.

"That might work," snickered Marco, who could see what the result of saying that would have on Rachel.

"Do you realize what you are suggesting?" exclaimed Jake.

Ax nodded. "She would not be like David, that is already obvious."

"Yeah," sniped Rachel. "She's smarter, so she would be able to finish us off before we could do anything."

"No," Ax said slowly, trying very hard to control his impulse to play with the sounds. "She has already demonstrated that she cares about people, that she doesn't have quite the mental instability that made David so dangerous. She cares about her fellow humans, or she would not have tried to help me."

"It could be a ploy," whispered Cassie, but she too was agreeing.

"Really? I don't think so. She didn't have any real reason to tell us who she was, and she doesn't seem to want to take things, the way that David did. She is also in far worse a situation."

Ax went silent, _then_ started playing with mouth sounds.

"Plllooy. Oi. P-lo-oy-"

The rest of the Animorphs looked on. 

Jake sighed. "Do we do it, or not?"

****

The Woods

Morgan whirled her staff around, going through her _katas, _practicing so that she would be able to keep her head when "Mr. Hamilton" came for her.

"Only a matter of time, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically to herself.

Next, she drew her butterfly blades, and danced her way through a set of forms that blurred her movements. Sheathing them, she flipped forward, and picked up her _si_, and slashed viciously. 

She was wearing the only other outfit that she owned, her _gi_, barefoot, and drenched with sweat. The tunic of her _gi_ stuck to her, hindering her movements for a second. It kept her foot from getting up as high as it should have for a roundhouse kick. Grunting in frustration, she slowed down. 

"I hope Cassie doesn't mind if I get another shower," she sighed, a little wistfully. Showering regularly was something that she had missed a lot since she had been on her own. Picking up her weapons and putting them into their various compartments that hid them in her duster, she strode tiredly out of the forest, enjoying the smell of clean air. 

She didn't want to disturb the Animorphs deliberations, if that was what they were, so she did a U-turn. 

"Oh, well, if you want running water, then you'll have to run for it."

The smell of water wasn't something most looked for, but it helped, being on her own for a while, to be able to get water for free.

"Ahh," she sighed again, and rinsed off her hands, then cupped them and got a drink. Dunking her head, she thought that the water felt so good…

Following the stream for a ways, she found a large pool, and took off her coat. She jumped in, fully clothed.

The bottom of the pool was sandy, instead of muddy, so she pulled off the _gi_ and started to scrub it, and herself, with the sand.

"So, what are we going to do, for the fourth time!" shouted Jake, as the argument went on.

"I don't trust her," said Rachel flatly.

"I still think we should give her the morphing power," responded Ax.

"We don't really know a thing about her!" Rachel yelled back.

"Oh, come on, mighty Xena, aren't you just jealous because she has a sword and you don't?" joked Marco.

Rachel tried to pinch him, but he was ready this time, and got her first.

"Ouch!"

Why don't we ask her? said Tobias, and everybody looked up at him.

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked.

I mean, that she _might not_ want the power. She might not want to join us. She was living on the street before, and there is no reason to think that the yeerks would be able to find her there. The girl is a paranoia freak. Have you ever noticed how she was keeping a constant look out when she got here? Really, she would make Marco look almost normal in comparison.

"Thanks, Bird-boy."

"I will go look for her," volunteered Ax.

Some eyebrows raised at that.

Shrugging, he said," I can cover more ground in the forest, and that was where she was last."

Walking back to the woods, Ax demorphed, and went in search of her.

He found her tracks easily enough, and it led to a stream. Following it, he found the pool that she was bathing in, and had one of the bigger shocks of his life.

He couldn't see below the water line, but it wasn't all that hard to tell that she didn't have any artificial skin covering her real skin. 

Ax knew that to be seen without artificial skin was to be of great embarrassment to humans, and he assumed that it must be something horrible that they were hiding, because they were so ashamed. He was so busy trying to understand what she was doing there, that he stepped on a twig.

Jerking, Morgan whirled around in the water, and made a dash for shore. Diving for her coat, she grabbed her _si,_ and got them ready. 

Ax was "treated" to what he had never seen before.

Uh, it's just me! he yelled, stepping back.

Giving an undignified squeak, Morgan dived back in the water.

She went under without a ripple, but when she didn't come up, he started to worry.

Are you there? he asked, trying to see where she was. There was splashing, and she came back up. What surprised him, was that she didn't blow out unused air. In fact, she had stayed under longer than any human should have been able to.

"Turn around, please," she begged.

He did, but he didn't understand why. Turning a stock eye, he saw her get out of the water, and wring out her clothes. Shaking them out a few times, she pulled them back on. Then, she looked up, and saw that he was still looking at him. 

Morgan opened her mouth to scream at him, curse or something, because the idea of an alien peeping tom was giving her the creeps, but she closed it. He was an alien, one that obviously didn't wear clothing himself. Okay, then, why should he care about human notions of modesty?

Taking a deep breath, she started again. "Okay, I won't say anything, but how much did you see?"

What do you mean? All I saw was you without your artificial skin.

"Which parts of me?" 

Hoping that he hadn't embarrassed her too much, he answered, Your front.

He didn't understand why she groaned.

"Do me a favor, will you? Never, _ever_ mention this to anyone. Ever."

She had walked up close to him, and pulled her _si,_ resting it at the base of his neck.

No, I will never tell.

"Good."

They walked back to the barn, with Ax trying to figure out why she was acting like something was wrong. He wondered what it was about her that he should find embarrassing, or shaming. Granted, he hadn't realized that humans were so, well, hairless, except in certain places, but she wasn't, by far, the ugliest of the species that he had encountered.

They walked back in, and Morgan faced them, like they were a hanging jury. The tension sang in the air, like a taut harp string. 

"I take that you all have come to some sort of decision about me?" she asked, wondering why she even cared. She had her own fight, and it was one that was as perilous as theirs was. Maybe even more so, but she was tired, so tired of being alone. Besides, they were mortals. Even if they survived the yeerks, she would have to watch them grow old and die, and that wasn't something she was all that keen on. 

"We," said Jake, giving Rachel a sharp look," would like to make you an offer. Do you want to become an Animorph?"

This blindsided her. _That_ was something she would never have expected, but at the same time, it would be a chance to be in a group, fight for something that _meant_ something, not in some crazy Game that no one could figure out. 

Cassie had noticed that Morgan was dripping when she walked in. It was one of several things, because her mind refused to settle on concentrating on what was important. She noticed that Ax carefully kept from looking at her, that Rachel was trying to stab her with her eyes, and that Marco was smirking. There were various noises coming from the animals. Jake looked worried.

"I will," Morgan said firmly. 

All the Animorphs let out their collective breaths. The tension was over.

"Okay, I'll get the morphing cube," piped up Cassie.

Morgan and Rachel's eyes met, and there was a moment, of, what? Understanding? That passed between them. A little of the hostility faded.

Cassie returned, and Ax took the blue cube from her outstretched hand.

Morgan could pretty easily figure out that she was supposed to touch it.

She gave a un-Morgan-like giggle.

"That tickles," she said, snorting, trying to keep from laughing loudly.

"Well, Morgan, welcome to the Animorphs. I guess we need to get you a morph, so you can practice," said Jake, walking over and holding out his hand.

Taking it, Jake had to keep from wincing, and he felt the rough calluses that covered her palm.

Cassie waved her over to some of the animal cages. There were some wolves, a bobcat, a cougar, some seagulls. (there were always seagulls.) There were also some ravens, a barn owl, and a few chipmunks.

"Well, what would be the most useful? And is there a limit on how many I can use? And how do you get to morph an animal, anyway? Do you use some sort of psychic whatever?" asked Morgan, who was a little confused.

There was muffled laughter from behind.

"You touch an animal, to acquire it's DNA. You concentrate on that animal, and it will go into a trance. That's all, and no, there are no limits, that we know of, of how many animals you can morph. You can't go from one morph to another. Two hours, and you are stuck like that forever. Didn't we tell you all this?" said Cassie.

"You may have, but I may not have been paying attention," her concentration was all on the cougar. It was one of the most beautiful creatures that she had ever seen.

"May I acquire the puma?" Morgan asked.

"Sure."

Reaching out, Morgan touched the silky fur. It was warm, and the puma watched her with wary eyes, but because of a broken limb, couldn't strike out. Her hand rested gently on its side, and it went into a dazed state.

"That's the trance?" she asked, and Cassie nodded.

Removing her hand, she moved over to the raven. "Would a bird morph be useful?"

Oh, man, you want to acquire a crow? Those are like, the gangsters of the bird world, complained Tobias.

"Yeah, well, they're also ubiquitous. They can go anywhere, and no one would care. Plus, they have enough weapons that they wouldn't be totally useless in a fight. Besides, there are some really cool legends about them," she told him as she reached out, touching an ebony dark wing.

She acquired it, and asked, "What now?"

"We go shopping," said Rachel, and rolled her eyes.

"Huh?" echoed everyone. That would be one of the last things that she would have expected.

"We need to get you a morphing outfit, duh."

****

The Pool

'Mr. Hamilton' stood across from Visser Three, and wondered what he was doing there.

He could hear the screams of the mortals that were the yeerks involuntary hosts in the background. He wished they would shut up.

There were no other immortals there. That was the only reason he had agreed to come to this 'meeting'. 

Now, let's get this straight, human. You plan to catch the Andalite Bandits, when I, Visser Three, have not been able to? Visser Three said, glaring at the human before him.

"Yes," he answered casually, which he knew would infuriate the Visser.

And how do you plan to do that? he sneered.

"Now, that, Visser Three, would be telling," he said, smiling. Standing up to leave, the immortal bounty hunter was surprised when Visser Three grabbed his arm. 

There was a moment when he felt dozy, and then he came out of it.

Staring suspiciously at Visser Three, Hamilton left, and walked through the Pool area.

It was then that Hamilton felt it. It was weaker than it usually should be, the sense of an immortal nearby was close. He continued on, but stopped when he got a good look at a crowd of Subvissers. There, was human-Controller that was one of the most beautiful girls that he had ever seen. He had heard of her, her name was Taylor. She was insane.

That was too bad, because she was also pre-immortal.

Eyeing her, he knew that the time when her host would become immortal would be soon. He would have to get her out of the Pool before that happened, or there would be no way for him to keep immortals a secret from the Yeerks.

There was nothing he could do about it now. He would have to kill her soon, though, because he didn't want to have the kind of competition for the Prize that he would get from an immortal Controller.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

The Mall

"Are you finished yet? You said all I needed was a leotard of some kind!" Morgan groused as Jake and Marco kept a firm grip on her arms as they led her through the mall.

Morgan was wearing a borrowed pair of jeans and sweatshirt from Cassie, which were too small. She had on her old reading glasses again, and other than the duster, looked like your classic nerd.

They were walking into Sears, and Morgan was wondering what was on Rachel's mind.

"We can't have Animorphs running around, dressed like homeless old loonies," Rachel said sagely, and began pulling 'fashionable' clothes off the sales racks.

"Uh-uh," Morgan sputtered. Other than the book and coffee stores, Morgan could have cared less about the mall. "I dress the way that I do for a reason, and I won't take charity."

"It's not charity, it's a gift," snorted the blond.

"Right, Barbie."

The two female alphas glared. 

"That is a habit I wish you two would stop," said Tobias. All the other Animorphs nodded. 

"I wish that you two would-" started Jake, but he noticed a strange look on Morgan's face.

She was looking off in the distance at someone. He was the new gym teacher-slash-immortal that they had met earlier. 

"That the guy that had you worried?" asked Jake in a low voice.

"Yes, but he feels different…" she said, her voice trailing off.

She had started to walk after the man, who hadn't seemed to notice her. That was…odd. An immortal almost always searched for the person in the room who could take your head. That was the only thing that made sense. How could you _not_ try to see who might take your head?

"Where are you going?" Jake hissed after her, as she broke into a run. The other Animorphs watched for a second, stunned, but quickly began to catch up.

Morgan's hands dipped inside her coat as she caught up with the man. He was ducking into a service exit. Tailing him, she ran out, and pulled out the two butterfly swords. Now was as good a time as any to challenge the creep and it looked like he didn't have any weapons of his own.

"Hey," she yelled, as the man stopped, like he was waiting for a ride.

The sneer on his face at the sight of a girl heading towards him was ridiculous. It was like he didn't even notice what she was. 

"My name is Morgan. I have come for your head," she stated, tossing out the traditional phrase, and brandishing her blades.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking like he had couldn't conceive of a girl coming after him. Time to disabuse him of that, she thought.

"I told you who I was, and if you don't make a run for holy ground right now, you won't be," she did a stomp kick to the inside of his knee. "Too late."

Hamilton went down with a scream. He didn't even try to defend himself. 

In the background, there was the sound of a car, and a limo rounded the corner. One of the windows rolled down, and a gun poked out. Morgan lunged as a dracon beam fired, and the man started to _demorph_. 

Blue fur sprouted, and a tail blade appeared.

_Thwap!_

It aimed for her head, but Morgan had been in the middle of a duck and roll to evade the dracon beam, so the tail blade only scraped the ground where her head had been.

Standoff.


	3. Default Chapter Title

****

Animorphs Forever 3: The Big Ouch

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to the great KAA, Scholastic, and Highlander belongs to Rysher. I don't own any of it, and I make no money from this whatsoever. 

Standoff.

Morgan stood there, looking at the demorphing form of Visser Three, who had gotten enough of a tail blade to be a real bitch to take care of, and he was apparently immortal. That was a complication that she definitely didn't need in her whacked out world.

She was in a crouch, one knee on the ground after her desperate tuck and role to evade a dracon beam. Her twin butterfly blades were raised, and she parried the Visser, again and again as he demorphed. 

Morgan's brain was slow with surprise, but then it hit her.

"Shit! He must have acquired an immortal," she growled in her chest. It was something that she hadn't even thought about, but it made sense. He hadn't recognized her, in fact, he hadn't even felt the buzz that came with another immortal, but she had felt it…

"Damn, he's _pre-_immortal!" she shrieked. He had regained his front hooves, but not his stalk eyes, and the Controllers in the limo would aim better next time. Her right hand took over her defense, while her left side lunged in. 

There was a wet, meaty thunk.

A mental scream could be heard, combining with a physical one that blended into a tortured harmony of pain. In the background, Morgan could hear the pounding of sneakers on pavement as the Animorphs tried to find her, and the squealing of tires as the limo tried to get closer.

Pulling her blade free. Morgan raised it up, listening to the dwindling moans of the dying Visser.

"There can be only-" she began, but this time, she was too slow to evade the dracon beam. It burned a hole through her chest, and left a cavern where her heart should have been.

The Animorphs had just enough time to get out of the way, when the Controllers picked up the dead body of their fallen Visser. They shoved into the back seat, and sped away.

Cassie ran over and got a good look at Morgan.

"Guys," she said, swallowing bile. "I think she's dead."

"But she is immortal, remember?" Ax stated, sounding like he was trying to make himself believe it. 

He turned her over, and heard a faint moan. Ax knelt down beside her.

"Look," he said softly, pointing to the many bloody scratches that covered her body, and the burns.

Faint sparks of electricity flared around the wounds, and where they had been, her body healed. The blood was all that remained.

They all jumped back like spooked rabbits when a loud gasp shattered the silence.

While they had intellectually known what she was, it was another thing to actually see it, and to hear her body come back to life…

The Animorphs were thinking very philosophical thoughts, when Morgan started swearing.

"Sonuvabitch! Damn me!" she shrieked, standing. They could hear the sound of charred bones cracking, and healing, as she got to her feet. Wiping the blood from her face, Morgan continued to swear, coming up with some phrases that most of the Animorphs had never heard before, and profoundly hoped they would never hear again.

Morgan breathed in, and tried to center. Finding her calm place, she turned to the Animorphs, who seemed to think that she should have a little reverence for her own return from the dead.

"Guys, we have a problem. Visser Three is immortal."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There were assorted moans from those who had been responsible for the protection of Visser Three. None of them liked the guy, but if he died, they were responsible for it, and they would be executed upon return to the Pool.

"Great," one of them, a hulking brute of a human moaned in _Galard._ "What are we going to do? With the visser dead-"

They were all shocked by a loud intake of breath, and the half-morphed Andalite Controller awoke. His eyes opened in pure shock that he was alive, and he laughed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They pulled Morgan out of the alley, because they couldn't think of anything else to do.

Her shirt was in tatters, but her coat was still in decent shape. Wrapping it around her, they hustled her to the parking lot, and onto the bus.

Jake sat down beside her and hissed," What do you mean, Visser Three is immortal??"

"Yeah," she said softly, her eyes scanning for threats on automatic reflex.

Jake looked at her aghast, as did the rest of the Animorphs.

Morgan wasn't looking at them, she was thinking about the Game.

Chances were, if Visser Three didn't know about it, he wouldn't survive for very long. There were enough immortals that were actively hunting, that if he didn't know, he would loose his head fairly soon.

But before that, he would definitely realize that he couldn't be killed, and who knew what havoc he could raise? If he did find out about the Game, what would he do about it?

She cursed her own thoughts even as her own survival instincts came into play.

Morgan could run, but even as she thought about it, she knew that it wouldn't work. 

She could turn over the Animorphs. 

NO, she could never do that, even as she thought it. That would be pure _wrong_, no matter what she thought.

She gritted her teeth against the rush of her own mind, and she focused on what was being said around her.

"We should get rid of the person that made him immortal!" snarled Rachel under her breath.

I'm going to have to kill him, she thought, and knew that it would be the only way she could help them.

I failed one friend, she thought desperately. I won't fail any others.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**

__

Flashback-

Morgan was on another bus, only she wasn't in the States. She was in Europe.

She sighed, and looked out over the scenic countryside that she was passing through, wishing she could enjoy it. She had been on this particular bus for the better part of five days, and before that, she had booked passage on, and worked for, a fishing boat. It was a good thing, she commented to herself, that in the right clothes she looked the better part of eighteen. It was also amazing where it could get you, when you know who _doesn't_ ask questions.

She inhaled, looking at the driver. Her stop was coming up, and she gagged. Too bad that she had had to get on a fish boat. Morgan thought that she would never be able to eat tuna again.

Duncan had told her about Paris, how beautiful it was, and Tessa had been born there. She had even given the immortal youngster some lessons in the language, so she wouldn't be out of place if she ever went there. Already, those lessons had come in handy.

The driver let her off, and Morgan, who in her current "disguise" had her head shaved, six piercings in each ear, through her lip, tongue, eyebrows and nose, and wearing tie-die, disembarked. Shouldering her bags, she wondered were she would sleep tonight. Oh, well, work was usually available if you knew where to look, and weren't all that choosy.

At first, as she wandered the streets, she wondered at the beauty of the ancient place. She took a deep breath, smelling the differences that were inherent in each city that she had been in.

"I've been immortal three years," she mumbled to herself, staring into a gorgeous fountain. Mac had told her that she would have who knew how long to live, but he hadn't lied to her. He knew that child immortal's didn't last long in the Game. So, he trained her to the gills, giving her weapons that she could easily use, and taught her how to use her small stature to her advantage. What little advantage that she had.

Her eyes widened as she sensed/smelled/felt/heard/ the buzz that comes in the presence of another immortal.

"Shit," she said to herself, and looked around, noticing absently that the sun had gone down. There was no way that she could even casually walk off, the way that she usually would, and hide in a crowd.

It wouldn't work. He could corner her now, because no one would notice. 

She was looking in the wrong direction, when someone placed his hand on her shoulder. Reflexes took over, and she grabbed that hand, reached back for his shirt, and threw him.

There was the sound of an impact, and a rolling. Morgan didn't stand around to watch. She bolted.

_Holy ground,_ she chanted to herself. _Holy Ground!_

Running flat out, she took the proverbial wrong turn, and ended in a blind alley.

"God, why me? Of all the stupid cliches," she muttered desperately, as she felt the other immortal's approach. Shedding her coat, and knowing that she had no other choice now, she whipped out her butterfly swords. 

"My name is Brian Santos. I have come for your head," said the other immortal, and Morgan took his measure, and wondered why she didn't just kneel before him right now. He was definitely in shape, tall, and he had a lethal-looking broadsword that he had held like it was an extension of his arm.

Taking a deep breath, and promising herself that she would make the bastard _work_ for her Quickening, she answered his challenge.

"I am Morgan Pierce. I won't make it easy for you."

"Oh, I'm shaking," he said, the older immortal sneered, and walked towards her.

Surveying the alley, hoping that she would find something that she could use, she hooked her foot on an old trash can lid. The cocky man was still walking towards her, and Morgan wondered if there was any way she could pull this off.

"Wait," she whimpered softly, and dropped her swords. "I won't fight."

She stared at the ground, ignoring the sound of his laughter. "Good girl, you have some sense."

There was a whistling as he raised his blade into the air, and-

She kicked up, using the lid as a shield, and she ducked, rolled, and came up with her blades in her hands. Hiding them in her coat, she ran, and took another turn, and saw a church. There was a pounding of feet behind her, and she wondered if it was her imagination making her feel his heavy breathing on her neck.

There was a slash in the air behind her as she hit the church's gate running, and dived through.

Her relief as she looked out at Santos, seeing his frustration, was cut off as she sensed another immortal. This one was _coming from the church._

She was safe, she thought, but-

Morgan had pulled her swords free again, even if she could use them.

"I'm Darius," said a voice coming from the shadows of the church. Out strode a man that was clad in a monk's robe. He looked at her swords. "You won't need those."

"You may stay here," he said softy, as he looked out and caught sight of Santos, who was lurking out in front of the gate.

"Th-th-thank you," she said shakily, and she accepted the hand that was offered her. "I- I'm Morgan."

Darius was one of the kindest and wisest people that she had ever met, and he spent the next several months learning from him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morgan looked at the Animorphs.

Visser Three was her problem now, not theirs. They were needed to save the world, and she wasn't a part of that. She had accepted a long time ago that she would not be the One, so there was only one thing she could do.

Kill Visser Three.

"Like I said, we need to get rid of the person who made Visser Three immortal," said Rachel, a little more loudly this time.

"I should have guessed that you would say something like that, Barbie," Morgan said. She was still in pain, and this wasn't helping.

"This is your fault," Rachel retorted.

Morgan stared levelly at her. "Yes, it is. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

"Honestly," Rachel sneered. "You are just some kid who had the luck to have become immortal. In the end, you are just a freak that has no idea what she's gotten into. You have no idea what you are dealing with. You don't have what it takes to be an Animorph, if you are going to act that stupidly whenever you get into a fight."

Morgan's eyes widened dangerously, then narrowed. Rachel was still glaring at her, but Morgan's mind had flown when Rachel had spoken.

She shot back, "It's a wonder that a brainless blond like yourself can think far enough to say that. Then again, it's a wonder that you can even breathe on your own."

"You will get us killed," Rachel hissed back. "Not all of us can come back from the dead."

Morgan and Rachel glared at each other, and there was a chilly silence on the way back to Cassie's.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Morgan was throwing her things into her pack, and running around, trying to get her stuff together as fast as she could. It was the next morning, and Cassie was at school, with the rest of the human Animorphs.

She had spent the night in the hayloft of Cassie's barn, and no one had spoken to her after Rachel's pronouncement on the bus. Afterwards, they had left her alone to get some sleep. Morgan had decided to leave that night.

Where are you going? asked a thought-speak voice from behind her, and Morgan whirled, her _si_ coming up.

"None of your business," Morgan snapped when she realized who it was, and continued packing. Ax was in bird morph, perched on one of the rafters of the barn.

You are leaving, Ax said, wondering why that bothered him so.

She didn't answer him, but pulled her very battered coat on, and started to walk out. Ax swooped after her, and landed on her shoulder.

You can't leave, no matter what Rachel said. That would be cowardice! Dishonorable!

"In the name of self-preservation, I can do some amazing things, Ax. You have no idea," she answered, and tucked her _si_ away.

You are a coward! he shrieked into her mind, bating his wings.

"I'm immortal, Ax. When you get used to the idea of living forever, you find that you like it. I have no desire to fight in some war that I can't win. It's not that hard to figure out."

Don't, Ax pleaded. Please. We need you. You are immortal; do you have any idea how valuable that could be to us? You could help save your world.

"I don't care about this world."

Ax took off. He couldn't be hearing what he thought he was. He couldn't!

Morgan watched him go. Her personal guilt about what she had let happen in the past made her do what she was doing now, but that didn't make it easier. She hated the idea of hurting people who had been kind to her, and Ax personally, but she needed to get some distance. She had to kill Visser Three, and she probably wouldn't survive it. She would only be a risk to them until she was done.

Looking at the disappearing mote that was Ax, she regretted lying to him about living forever. She didn't want to get used to it, in fact, it didn't mean a damn to her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morgan was walking through the park. She had stolen, **ahem**, _borrowed_ some of the outfits that Cassie and Rachel had given her. On her walk back to the bus, she had seen a flyer for a membership drive that the Sharing was having. So, having decided on her course of action, she had gone.

Foreign thoughts and memories whispered through her mind like blowing leaves, the remnants of Quickenings she had taken in the past.

There was the sound of music in the background as stopped in front of their booth. A bright, colorful sign, free drink table, and lots of smiling people greeted her, as she looked them over. Her skinned crawled as she thought about what was actually in their heads. There was no trace of it on their faces, but her sense that would warn her of an approaching immortal was tickling, like fly legs walking up her arms. It was a sense of definite _wrongness_, but not what a real "threat" would set off.

Her memory started playing images of lives and battles that she had never fought, long before her time, vivid and alien but none the less real.

She shivered as she remembered the heads she had taken. There had been five in all, but she had six Quickenings.

Morgan absently took a flier from the happy faced young man in front of her. Flipping through it, but not really seeing it, she remembered her first head. It had been an accident, really. An accident of self-defense. She could still picture herself, frantically trying to fend off a man twice her weight and nearly seven feet tall. She had been in a subway tunnel, and had tripped him…

There was no trying to describe the actual sensation, even though the part that could be seen was quite spectacular. Yet that hadn't even a fraction of what had happened.

The next two had been deliberate. Both male, both hunting her, and she had poisoned the first, then ambushed the second. It worked well enough.

She defeated the fourth and fifth in fair combat.

Number four had been large, male, and powerful, but she had been faster. The last had been a female, that she had thought of as a friend. She had missed her mother, and Carla had been kind. Then Carla had come after her with an axe.

Shaking off the paralysis of memory, she looked around, and made herself think of old, sad times. Tears welled up in her eyes, her face turning splotchy. She made a pitiful sight.

"Please," Morgan said to one of the people in the booth with a cracking, squeaking voice," please help me. My mama, she and my daddy, please? Can you help me?" She sniffed for effect.

A hand patted her shoulder. Looking up through her reading glasses, and wiping her nose, Morgan saw a beautiful blond girl that looked like she had seen some tough times herself giving her a sympathetic look.

A damned false one, Morgan realized. Living by your wits made you a good reader of people, and this one was as shallow as any of the old bullies she had put up with in middle school. Behind the oh-so-caring eyes, there was sneer and a contempt that made her want to slash the blond's throat.

Another arm put itself around her shoulders. 

"Hi. I'm Erek."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"She did _what!_" barked Jake, incredulously. 

"She joined the Sharing," said Erek again, hoping that the human wouldn't shout like that again. He had sensitive hearing.

"So, now we have two immortals to take care of instead of just one," snorted Marco. "I guess they must have been having a sale.

Rachel looked at him, and wondered why she didn't strangle him.

I cannot believe that she would do something like that, interrupted Ax.

"You said that she would do some amazing things in the name of self-preservation, Ax," Rachel retorted.

Ax was having the worst trouble excepting what Erek had told them. In his mind, she was still the girl that was reading a book, and had shoved him out of the way of an oncoming car. There was something wrong with all of this, though he couldn't disobey his prince, or even disagree. He wanted to desperately believe that she would turn them over to the yeerks. In fact, she had made no mention of the Animorphs to the Sharing, as far as Erek knew.

But, the way that she had sounded when she had left…

It was your fault, he snapped at Rachel. Her eyes widened in surprise when he said that, and she opened her mouth the reply.

Ax ignored her, and left the barn. Morphing into his bird of prey morph, he left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Visser Three was still trying to understand what had happened to him. One minute he had been fighting with that girl, who had attacked him for no reason. 

He growled to himself as he had his bodyguards killed. He absently listened to their screams, and wondered what it was that made him come back from the dead. Although, that might not be what had actually happened. He could have completed the demorphing process while he was unconscious.

That must have been it. There was the disturbing thought in the back of his mind that said that it was his _host_ that had died, and nothing of this had to do with him. The voice of his host was getting louder.

He felt something strange when he looked around, and saw Taylor. She was helping with the executions, and reveling in it. The lovely human female was covered in human and Hork-Bajir blood, and it made her even more beautiful. There was something strange about her…

Taking a Dracon beam, he burned her in the back. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taylor woke up, wondering what had happened.

She had been having a bit of fun, when there was a horrific pain, and she had found herself waking up in the floor of her playpen.

It was then that she heard it. Felt it. Whatever.

There was Visser Three, smiling, looking like he had caught something.

Looking at her burned shirt, Taylor realized that she had been shot with a Dracon beam. Then, she had healed. The realization crossed her face, and she laughed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morgan was in the shelter, wondering if she had done the right thing.

: You did your best. This was the only thing that you could have done,: said the voice of her best friend, who was dead.

Tears clouded her vision, and she wondered if tonight was going to be one of **those** nights. 

_Darius,_ she thought painfully, remembering the kindness and goodness that had come from him, surging into her body, the wisdom, the experience, all of it. 

__

Flashback-

Darius had told her that Mac was in town, and she wondered if she should go see him. No, she thought. That would mean leaving holy ground. 

She had left Mac when she had realized that there was nothing more she could learn, and that she would be a burden to him. He had been so kind, that there was nothing else she could do for him, but that.

Morgan had known that she would have to go after Santos sometime. Looking out of her Spartan room in Darius' rectory, she opened the door and walked out. The bathroom that she had shared with the immortal monk was simple, and she washed quickly. Looking into the hanging mirror above the sink, she ran her hand over the stubble that had grown up. She snickered, and caught the sense of Darius from the other room.

"Something funny?" he asked, and she turned to leave the bathroom, now dressed.

It always surprised her when Darius would suddenly show that he had a sense of humor. 

"Yes, my hair. I never thought that I would save it, and now that it is growing back out, I think that I liked it better shorn."

The immortal priest gave her a curious look. "It reduces chances of pests, that is for certain," he replied, and Morgan guffawed. 

There was the sense of another immortal outside, and Morgan shuddered. Santos had been waiting for her for the past several months, and that had been the only thing to mar her joy of being in Darius company. The sense of peace, of holiness that came from being in this church came from the man that lived within it, and it helped her forget the fear and running that had been a part of her life since had awoken in the morgue.

Darius had been telling her stories of the life he had led, both before and after he had taken the Quickening that had so completely changed his life. He gave her descriptions of battles, wars and strategy, and then helped her to see what he had learned from it all. He had learned that all life was sacred.

"I'm going to have to go after him," Morgan said quietly, trying some of the strange tea that Darius seemed to take a joy in plying her with.

"You don't have to," Darius answered, looking at her soulfully. 

"I can't live on holy ground the rest of my life, Darius. I may look like a kid, and I know that I won't live that long, but I want to see things. There is a whole world out there, and I want to explore it. I understood that I wouldn't be the One along time ago. I'm not worthy, and I freaking well won't survive in a fight that is fair, and I won't go around killing just for the fun of it."

"I know," he said, and sighed. Giving her a rueful look, he continued. "You picked up more from your teacher than you know. I am proud of him, and I hope that you realize that you may always come back here if you need to."

"Thanks," Morgan whispered, her throat choking up.

They hugged, and Morgan left to find her killer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

There was a backdoor to the rectory, and Morgan slipped out through that. She picked up a handful of dirt, and found a small hanky that she had filled with salt and pepper that she had borrowed from Darius. Mixing them up, she wondered if her improvised mace would help.

She felt it, the feeling of a strange immortal. 

Turning, hoping vaguely that it wasn't him, because Darius had told her that Mac was in town, along with his new student.

No such luck.

"Nice to see you, little one. Now, shall we begin?" he said, swaggering up. They were in an alley, which actually gave Morgan the advantage, because of her small size. 

Freeing up her blades, Morgan got into a ready stance, not wanting to waste the breath for insults. She wanted this over, now. Her back was to the wall, so he might think that he had her penned in. Morgan smiled tightly. 

Mockingly, Santos saluted, and she returned it, quickly and efficiently. Then, the battle was joined.

Santos feinted high, trying to draw Morgan's guard up. Morgan, hoping that he would do something like that, kicked low, aiming for his knees. Surprised, he jerked back, and blocked. Morgan stepped into the blow, and turned it into a turning back kick. Abruptly, Santos realizes that he is the adult here, and tries to take control. He goes in for a series of overhand strikes, trying to wear he down, and it began to work. Morgan's arms started screaming as he continued, his longer and heavier sword keeping her from getting in close. 

_Clang- clang- clang!_

Grunting, Morgan wondered how much longer this could last. The effort was telling in the cramping of her hands, and-

Santos saw a hole in her guard, and thrust, severing the tendons on her right hand.

Morgan shrieked, her sword dropping from her useless fingers. Santos followed up with a gut stab, and Morgan fell to her knees.

"There can be only one!" he yelled, but with her left hand, Morgan had reached for her improvised pepper bomb. Even as she started coughing up blood, Morgan tossed it in his face, and he recoiled. 

"You little!" he yelled, and Morgan struggled to her feet. Instead of running this time, she leaned in, rushing him with her shoulder. Already off balance, the elder immortal fell backwards, and Morgan fell with him. Neither had realized how close they were to the river, until both of them fell in.

Her good hand at Santos throat, she kept a hold on him in the water. The river wasn't particularly deep there, and both immortals didn't have to worry about drowning. Santos had dropped his sword, and is sank like a stone.

The water had washed the pepper and dirt from Santos' eyes, and he had gotten over the fall. He was trying to stop the little she-demon that had started gnawing on his neck, making him bleed.

Lacking any natural weapons, Morgan was doing the best she could. Her right hand was still useless, and her left clung to the man, and she did her best to damage him with teeth and feet. Santos suddenly wondered if she had had her rabies shots.

Jerking himself around, Santos finally managed to get her off him, and put his own arm around her neck. Both of Morgan's arms still worked, so she was able to drive both of her elbows into his chest, and fall through, while Santos was still trying to stay above water. Diving down, and taking a deep breath, Morgan tried to find the sword that Santos had dropped.

_Damned muddy river!_ she thought savagely, reaching through the thick gloom. Feeling a slash across her hand, she realized that she had found what she had been looking for, and tried to use her right to grab the hilt, but it still wasn't working.

"Glurp!" she tried to say, when a fist hit her from behind.

Falling, or floating, down, seemed to have jogged Morgan's healing into full effect. She grasped at the sword, and in slow motion, ran him through, and then took his head.

Lightening filled the water, making it glow, and memories filled her mind to bursting, like a boulder dropped in a bucket. Then, ecstasy. It was replaced by mind-numbing pain, and she was unconscious.

Sometime later, she woke up, drifting down the river, and had to find her way back. It took her a while to swim to shore, and even longer for her to get back to the rectory. For a moment, she wished that she hadn't.

"DARIUS!" she screamed, and leapt into the fight. Several mortals were trying to catch hold of the valiantly struggling priest. She had unthinking left her blades at the door, thinking that she wouldn't need them, and it was a good thing. No one knew what would actually happen if an immortal killed on holy ground, but they did hear stories, and that was enough for them.

Fist and feet flying, she and the priest did their most to keep from getting killed, until one of the mortals bonked her on the head, knocking her out.

The leader, who was trying to shoot her, jerked back at the roar of "STOP!"

Everyone turned to Darius.

"You let the girl go, and I will gladly let you have my head," he stated, voice calm.

"NO! I'm not worth it, Darius!" Morgan heard herself sob. She was woozy from the knock to the head, but she was trying to fight back up, and was struggling to get out of the grip of the two mortals that held her.

"Live, child. I am an old man, your life is just starting."

Horton looked at the girl that was trying so hard to kick, bite, or generally maim his men.

"Let the little bitch go," he said casually, and Darius knelt. 

"No, NO **NO**!" 

Screaming obscenities, they dragged/carried Morgan out, while Darius knelt.

Horton laughed.

~~~***~~~***~~**~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~*~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~*

They had just dumped the sore and exhausted young immortal on the pavement outside, when Morgan got a good look at their arms. They both sported a funky looking tattoo. Since they were off holy ground, Morgan was free to act. Her blades were still inside, but she had her _si_ with her, and she stabbed on in the gut, and wrenched it out. The other man stood shocked, but not before drawing his gun. He shot her in the hand, but she was able to get to him before he could do anything else. Her _si_ had dropped, so she was in the middle of strangling him, when she was struck with Darius Quickening.

There was nothing like this one. The sickening realization of who's soul she was taking flooded her, and she threw up even as it happened.

The life of one of the best men in the world crashed into her brain, becoming an inextricable part of her soul, and she glimpsed what he once was. Evil, but transmuted into goodness. The saw the life of the Elder that he had killed, and holiness of that man took her breath away. 

It was over, as fast as it had come.

"What!" Morgan heard a voice shout. "That girl was an immortal! Kill her!"

The second man was as good as dead. Picking up her _si, _Morgan took off at a run, and hid.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~

Morgan woke up, and hadn't even realized that she had been dreaming.

"Crap," she said, wondering where the heck she heck she was, and then she remembered. She laughed a little, to herself, thinking that it was just like that stupid Temple of Zeus that she and Grayson had stayed in when they had invaded-

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her mind. At times, memories of Darius life, and the other immortals head's she had taken, would bubble up in her mind, and she could sometimes hear Darius' voice. It was gentle, encouraging, but other times, she also heard the others. The people that he had killed, and all that they had killed, and-

_God, not this vicious cycle again!_ she shouted internally. 

Shaking herself, she decided that she needed to do a little hunting. Find the real Hamilton, and find out what the heck he did to let Visser Three acquire him.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~****~~~***~~~***~~

Ax had been flying for close to the two hour limit. He had been cruising over the Sharing, where Erek had said that Morgan had been gone into to.

What he didn't realize was that he had been spotted.

Without warning, a flash of light shot out, and a stunned Harrier fell from the sky.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~****~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

Hamilton had barely felt the edges of Visser Three's Quickening, when he had fled to holy ground. Now, he turned around, catching the touch of another immortal.

Amazing, he thought, looking at the girl standing in front of him. Does she have any idea of the sense she has? How powerful she is?

"My name is Bryce Hamilton. Who are you?"

The girl looked at him, and suddenly Hamilton went cold.

"I'm Darius."

To be concluded....


	4. Default Chapter Title

****

Animorphs Forever 4: Forever and a Day

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic, Highlander belongs to Rysher Entertainment, and I make no money, yadda, yadda, and a ho-ho-ho.

Ax's first impressions were of aches. His head, his back, and his tail all throbbed dully, like he was recovering from being beaten. He didn't have any idea where he was. Slowly, afraid to find out, he opened his main eyes slowly, then his stalk eyes.

There were bars, like in a human prison, blocking his view, and he when he tried to move, he couldn't. Other than his eyes, he was paralyzed.

"So, the sleeper awakes," said a drawling, human voice. Turning his stalk eyes, he caught sight of the person that had captured him. 

Taylor was as poisonously beautiful as she always was. For a human, she was of an outstanding beauty, and the insanity of her mind and of her yeerk, had warped them both, until they had almost become the same being.

He shuddered mentally, because his body couldn't.

"Well, my fine young Andalite," she said, and smiled like a cat. "Since you are back in the land of the conscious, then we can begin finding out why you were following me.

The way she looked at him made him feel dirty, defiled. He also had the feeling that whatever it was that she was going to do to him; it would not involve infestation. It would likely be much, much worse.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~****~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

"Darius? I thought that you'd be taller, not to mention _male_," sneered Hamilton, looking at the wisp of a girl in front of him. It was definitely the same one that he had met as the school, but now, she was wearing one of the long coats that most immortals favored, and had her hair slicked back. With white face paint, and heavy black makeup, he wondered what she was trying to do. She did look eerie, that was for certain.

"Darius died several years ago, but I received his Quickening, and, have you heard of the Darius effect?"

"Please," he grunted, wondering why he was getting goose bumps. The girl was looking at him through eyes that were darker than they should have been, and Hamilton remembered the overpowering feeling when he walked within the edges of her Quickening. For a child-immortal, it should not have been so strong; in fact, few immortal children lived long enough to take any heads at all, so she should have given him a very weak 'buzz'.

Her voice was deep, too deep for a girl-child.

"Yes, I have. When Darius faced down the oldest immortal of the time, possibly the oldest immortal of all time, he was changed. He went from a blood thirsty warlord, to a priest who worked for world peace the rest of his life from holy ground."

She nodded, slightly. Hamilton was now getting past his first impressions of her youth to the way that she stood. It was balanced, ready to move at a moment, but utterly still.

"Now, tell me what you think would happen to the person that inadvertently got his Quickening?" she asked softly, and Hamilton wondered where this going.

"She was eighteen at the time, and which personality would be more powerful? One that had been changed by the Ancient's, or one that had only taken three heads?"

"I have watched this world and these people since we sat in caves, chanting to animal spirits. Do you think that I would leave them to aliens?"

Hamilton's mind seized on that. "SO, even the Ancients knew about them?"

"No, only from personal experience."

This was where Hamilton decided that he would make his bid.

"Visser Three has become immortal. I can't take his head without help. We both know that the Game was not meant to be played by aliens. We have to stop him."

Morgan just looked at him. The offer he had made was completely unexpected. She had come with the intent of making him tell her what he was doing with the yeerks. How she had known where he was, she didn't know. At times like this, she wasn't the person in the driver's seat. It was Darius, the military genius, and the Ancient, who directed her. She hadn't lied when she had stated her name.

: I think that we may be able to trust him, at least for this,: Darius told her. For the most part, he stayed in the back of her mind, rarely commenting. Now, he was in complete control, and the echoes of other voices resounded in her thoughts.

"I'll help you. What do you have in mind?" she asked, after several minutes.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

"This can't be right," Marco exclaimed in annoyance.

"What do you mean?" asked Cassie, when they were in the barn later.

"I mean, both Morgan and Ax have been missing all day. Tobias confirmed it, although as far as Morgan goes, she left a while ago."

"Why would Ax go after her?" Cassie asked in confusion.

I think it had to do with some hero worshiping, said Tobias slowly. She saved our lives twice, and he can't seem to understand that she might be trying to turn us in.

"I never thought that he would be pulled in so easily by that freak," Rachel muttered.

"She's not a freak, she honestly thought that it was Hamilton that she was fighting," Jake answered, looking annoyed. "Because you couldn't hold your big mouth, we lost a potentially valuable ally."

"I did not!" she shouted. She was about to go farther, but stopped at the withering looked that Jake gave her.

"Do any of us have any idea where she is?" asked Cassie, trying to cut them off.

"Last we heard, Erek said that she was at the Shelter for runaways that the Sharing sponsors."

"We need to find out what she is doing there, and see if we can stop Visser Three."

They all looked at him like he was crazy, but Jake had on his "Determined Leader" face. So, Jake and Rachel decided to walk down to the shelter, while Tobias, Cassie and Marco provided eyes in the air, and hoped that they found Ax along the way.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~

Ax was coming out of his paralysis enough to feel his limbs. He tried to move, but they still were unresponsive.

"Oh, it is good to see that you are feeling things again," said Taylor, who had been gently running razor blades over his fingers from time to time, seeing if he could feel them. He had tried to jerk away from the pain, and she had noticed.

She laughed, a lighthearted sound, but laced with madness, he fancied. Looking at her, she looked so human. For all he knew that humans could be evil, his friends had shown him what humanity strove for, and it was more noble than he liked to think. She, most definitely, wasn't it.

Smiling, she gently started to touch him, to briskly massage his sore muscles.

Ax's eyes widened with surprise. He had been bracing himself for pain, but this was a total shock.

"Oh, your surprised, hmm?" she asked innocently, but her didn't stop her slow massage, but continued to stroke him, the rhythm changing. Taylor had started at his shoulder blades, worked her way down his chest, then back up again.

"You thought that I was going to hurt you?" she smiled at him. "No, pain has little effect on an Andalite. Torture they expect. I find that it works best to humiliate a captive, first."

Ax watched as she slowly and lightly moved her hands around his body, and abruptly he realized what she was going to do, when the first burst of pleasure bloomed. Try as he might, he couldn't make himself _not_ feel anything.

Concentrating on his breathing, he tried to pull himself away from what she was doing. Wishing that he were human, so he could bite his lip, he trembled when she brushed her fingers against the base of his tail.

There was the soft sound of her laughter again, and his eyes flew open when he heard the soft rustle of artificial skin.

Taylor stood in front of him, naked.

"What, never seen a human without clothing?" she asked, and posed. Ax wondered what she was doing.

Ax wanted to groan. He had been among the humans too long. Closing his eyes against reality, he did his best to retreat into his own mind.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

Morgan and Hamilton walked carefully to one of the entrances of the yeerk pool. They had come to a truce of sorts. First, they would kill Visser Three, then they would try to kill each other. This was a part of the Game, and the Rules had to be followed.

Watching each other like a pair of wary wolves, they seemed to also work together in an almost eerie fashion. 

They had decided on going to the main entrance inside the Sharing's main headquarters, out of something of a crazed urge to make an entrance.

There was a method to this madness, though. 

Hamilton walked him, calmly showing his ID. Morgan shadowed him, and the Controllers never saw her until she dropped down from above, grabbing one and breaking his neck, as Hamilton drew a Dracon beam and fired. The other guard disappeared in a glowing cloud of particles.

They looked at each other, and Hamilton bowed, gesturing for her to go first. Sneering at him, Morgan complied, and drew her _si. _Holding then in an oriental grip, she proceeded down the endless spiral of stairs that led into the pool.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

_Flashback-_

Morgan had started running after she had gotten Darius' Quickening, and hadn't stopped, even though she had no idea where she was. 

Lungs sobbing for air, she stumbled and fell, landing on her hands and knees. 

_Think, girl, think! You can't just keep running. Darius is dead. Does anyone know about it? Can you avenge him?_

She moaned as she thought about the kind priest, and curled into a fetal position. Morgan rocked and keened, but her mind kept working.

_Call Mac? He must know about him already. Darius had mentioned him coming for a visit, although he never said what for. He's better at this kind of thing._

Who the hell were those people? Why did they want to kill Darius? He never hurt anyone!

Tattoo, those men had that strange tattoo. I need to find out more about it.

How? I'm a kid!

Getting up, and swallowing hard when her gorge threatened to rise, she realized she had left her blades at the church. She would need to go back to get them.

However, she had no idea where she was. While she had left the church to get a job, she had made sure to always use public transport, and did so during the day.

:I know where we are,: said a voice, and Morgan's first reaction was to jump. Staring, and drawing her remaining weapons, she jerked her head around, trying to find the anonymous speaker.

:I'm in here,: said the voice, and with rising panic, Morgan realized that it was coming from inside her own head. 

_Great, I'm hearing voices. Darius' voice! I'm going nuts. Just what I need..._

:No, you are not going insane. You have my Quickening, and I just don't feel like passing on yet. You need my help.:

"Well, people already thought I was nuts. This won't change anything," she groused to herself, and following his mental prompting, Morgan managed to find her way back to the church.

Finding her swords, the voice that had guided her receded, but there was something else. She felt stronger, faster, than she ever had before. Her instincts were more honed, her mind was less quiet than it had been. Thoughts jumbled in and out, wandering and coming back, but with a little effort, she could direct them. Memories of Darius' life were buried in the back, and she reached out, touched them, and found skills that she had never had before. As if this had opened a set of floodgates, she suddenly was able to touch the memories, while less clearly, of the other people whose heads she had taken.

She shuddered, when those other's personalities assaulted her. Then something got in the way. It stilled the mad voices, made then manageable, barely.

Looking at the church, she knew that she would have to leave. Morgan couldn't plot bloody revenge against those people, especially when she was hearing voices.

Taking out one of her swords, she placed it in her left palm, and gave a sharp twist. 

Watching the blood drip down, even as it healed, she answered herself.

"Soon."

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~***~~***~~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~~***~~~

"Hey, Tom," said Jake in surprise, seeing his brother at the Sharing's shelter.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" asked his tall older brother.

"We were coming to see if an old friend of ours was here," answered Rachel before Jake could reply.

"Who was she?" he asked, the perfect helper.

"Her name is Anne," piped up Jake, after giving Rachel a warning look.

Tom frowned in thought. "I don't know if we have any Anne's here."

"Could you look, please?"

Shrugging, Tom left them, and the two Animorphs started looking around.

"She may have used another name, you know," Jake hissed into Rachel's ear. They were wondering what was going on, when they heard a very loud crash.

Tom ran up.

"Uh, guys, there was a gas leak. You had better leave."

There was another, this time sounding more like an explosion.

Tom went a rather interesting shade of green, and left to see what was going on.

"Do we have time to get the others?" asked Rachel.

Jake shook his head. "We have to find out what is going on, but…" he trailed off, and he looked at her. "You go get the others, while I find out what is happening. I'll come back and get you."

Grunting the affirmative, Rachel ran off, a little annoyed. 

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

The two immortals finally reached the bottom of the stairwell. 

Looking around, they noticed something strange.

Several of the human hosts were lying on the ground, very dead. None of them were immortal, so they weren't coming back.

Morgan remembered what she had heard Visser Three mumbling when she had come to in the morgue, and wondered if this had anything to do with it.

Then, she heard a thought-speak moan.

_Ax,_ she realized, and unconsciously started towards the mental sound. Hamilton grabbed her shoulder. Without warning, he jabbed his Dracon beam into her back.

"You son of a-" she started to yell, but he grabbed her and flung her to the ground. Both were then swamped with the feeling of another immortal.

"I have a present for Visser Three," he said arrogantly to the guards that proceeded him.

Visser Three was back in his normal body, and he was surprised by the glare of defiance that he saw in the young human's face. Then again, he shouldn't be all that surprised. She had killed him already.

Well, what do we have here? he asked softly, and he rudely grabbed her head. Her makeup seemed strange to him, and he didn't know what it meant.

She spat at him.

Laughing at this petty showing of defiance, Visser Three threw her to the ground. Bounding to her feet, and ready to charge him, she was hit in the back with the dracon beam that Hamilton had ready.

Take her to Taylor. I will speak with Hamilton about this gift he has brought me, he ordered, and gestured for the guards to take her away.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~~****~~~***~

Morgan revived some place that she really didn't want to be.

Taylor was standing in front of her, still nude, and there was a whimpering sound coming from the prone Ax behind her.

This prompted Morgan to start swearing in one of several dead languages that she had acquired since getting Darius' Quickening.

Taylor looked in the direction the profanity was coming from, and saw that Morgan was once again alive.

"So, what are you?" she asked, real curiosity coloring her voice. "What am I?" 

To this, Morgan went right on swearing, this time using English.

Taylor slapped her, saying, "Naughty, naughty."

Morgan was staring at the hapless alien on the table across from her, wincing as she did so. Taylor was still slapping her, but the pain was distant. It was only pain, after all, and Morgan had died with the best of them.

Seeing what Taylor had done to him, Morgan's vision was tinged with red. She knew those pathetic whimpers, the way he tried to cave in on himself. The memories of lifetimes showed her, and she had a first hand view at being both victim and aggressor.

He'd been raped. There was nothing else that would describe the way that he looked at her with the total humiliation, pain, rage, and terror that made all of his pupil's dilate to their fullest, and leave him shaking the way that he was. He didn't look at her, because the shame was too great. 

There was no physical damage, but Morgan shuddered at the thought of the mental.

"Oh," said a suddenly thoughtful Taylor. "You don't like what I did to this creature?"

She strode back over to him, and then took out some sort of liquid from a cabinet that was beneath Ax's table.

Laughing, she poured it out onto his blue and tan fur, and started to rub it over him. 

Morgan's eyes narrowed, and then widened. The smell that came from it was familiar, one that she hadn't caught whiff of in centuries… It was something that was both a combination of truth serum and aphrodisiac. 

"Who are you?" Taylor asked the Andalite.

Aximili.

"Where are the other Andalites?"

This was something that Morgan couldn't let go on. But there was nothing that she could do.

They are on the Andalite Home World, he answered, and Morgan heaved a sigh of relief.

"How did they get back there?" she asked in surprise. "We've had no information to confirm that!"

They have always been there, he answered, mind-voice dreamy.

For a moment, Morgan sat there, and almost giggled. She hoped that Ax wasn't a Babylon 5 fan. Seeing how it was acting on his body, Morgan thought that they must have under dosed him. In fact…

He was coming out of it.

Ax was looking more and more lucid, even as Taylor continued to ask him questions about the 'Andalites'. He kept on giving her stupid answers. _She must be getting impatient,_ she thought. _She didn't take the time to fully break him._

Shivering with relief, she waited until she had enough time to break out.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~

Jake had found his way to the yeerk pool entrance, but he was alone. Inside there was the sound and smell of an explosion, one that he had gotten to know so well.

What the hell was going on down there?

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

"Why won't you answer me?" shrieked the blond that stood in front of him.

Ax had come to enough to understand what was happening to him, not that he wanted to. She had succeeded in her first goal, to humiliate him, but for a strange moment, he wondered if she was just amusing herself. She hadn't been trying to get any real information from him…

Then, he saw Morgan in the background. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, as he saw the beginnings of feathers on her hands. She shrank, and her eyes started to turn a glossy black. 

Ax was watching this with his stalk eyes, and he also noticed that he could move his arms. He was trying to keep a lookout for anyone else, when the rustle of feathers caught his attention.

Taylor heard it also. She was about to turn her head, when Ax grabbed her arm, and started acquiring her. Taylor promptly went into a stupor. 

The feeling that he got when he was acquiring her made him ill. It was like she was doing more to him than just becoming a morph. He was being changed. It was like something in him was being destroyed.

The rustling stopped, and a half-human, half-raven wiggled out its restraints. 

Watching the way that she demorphed, he had to wonder if she was an _estreen_. 

_Nope_, he snorted.

He was still paralyzed in his legs, but his arms were working more, and he pulled back when Morgan moved over to Taylor. Grabbing the woman's neck, she jerked her arm up and twisted. Taylor's neck broke with a sickening crack. She fell like a stone.

"You okay? It's me, Dar-, uh, Morgan," Morgan said into his ear. She started to pull on the restraints that bound him. Ax flinched away from her, memories of being touched making him sick. He saw that she had trouble at first, then she gave a heave, and electricity crackled around her. The shackles opened.

What was? he said weakly, as she grunted, and flung him over her shoulders.

"The force of life that an immortal is able to use," she rasped, wheezing with the effort of moving him.

"Gods, you need to go on a diet."

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~****~~~***~~***~~~***~~***~~***~~**~~***~~***~**

Hamilton was currying favor. He needed it, if he was going to survive.

That was the major rule of the Game, and one he exceeded at. If he was able to give Visser Three Morgan, and her signature was able to cover his, then he would live to use the yeerk. Simple as that.

Then, there was the explosion.

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

What are you doing? asked Ax, when he was able to get to his feet. They had stopped to retrieve Morgan's weapons, even though her beloved coat was in shreds. 

She was packing then into her clothes, and suddenly Ax started to laugh.

She whirled to look at him, disbelieving.

Unfortunately, some guards also heard him.

The first Hork-Bajir went down with her _si_ sticking out of its head. The next was human, and Morgan grabbed her, and broke her neck with ease.

Looking down at the body, she saw the weapons that they had.

"Hold these, and if you loose them, I'll kill you twice," she snarled at the feverish Ax, thrusting her weapons out to him. She leaned over to take the dracon beams that the guards had been armed with, and looked it over. Taking cover behind some barrels, she took a sharp shooter's stance, aimed, and fired.

BOOM!

~~~****~~~***~~~****~~~***~~~***~~***~~~***~~~****~~~***~~***~~****~~~***~

Jake and the other Animorphs stepped off the stair well, and into pandemonium. Controllers were firing everywhere, but at nothing. Somewhere in the middle of the melee, Tobias spotted an Andalite, and a cougar.

Ax was carrying something, and the cougar was in front of the Andalite, who was moving with something less than his usual gracefulness. He was moving like he was in the middle of thick mud. The cougar, on the other hand, was almost supernaturally quick, but obviously unfamiliar with its body, and was also on the clumsy side. 

Jake took stock of the battle. The odds were against them, but when weren't they? It was then that he saw the cougar dive between Ax and an incoming dracon beam, and saw that it was protecting him, like he couldn't take care of himself. The cougar then puffed up its fur, and looked around, like it had heard something.

Visser Three and Hamilton were running towards the alien and the immortal, and the cougar stood in their way defiantly. It was then, as Hamilton sensed the cougar, that he stared in amazement. The pieces of a puzzle that he had been trying to understand fell into place, and he grinned fiercely. 

Jake and the others morphed quickly, before they could be seen. They fought their way over to the twain, and formed a circle so that they could get clear. Apparently, though, the cougar was wanting to get to Hamilton.

The eyes of Hamilton and Morgan met, and she issued the challenge.

**_I challenge you both, Hamilton. There can be only one!_**

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~***~~

"Okay, now that we're all safe and sound, Morgan, what the hell do you think that you were doing?" shouted Jake into the stoic face of the immortal sitting in front of him.

"I was trying to take Visser Three's head," she answered, wondering how he would respond.

"What is the deal with the head chopping?" asked Marco. "I know that they can be stuffed and mounted, and that there is supposed to be some kind of energy taken, I think you said. But why do you fight? It's not like you have to, or anything."

"Well, we do, because of the Game. See, in the end, there can be only one. That one will have the power of all the immortals that have ever lived. There are those that actively play the Game, and some that could care less. I've only taken heads in self-defense. If I could get away with it, I would live on holy ground the way that I-, the way that my friend Darius did, but I couldn't stay for very long. People get suspicious of non-aging teenagers after a while."

"Some game," said Marco with a shudder. "Are there any rules?"

"Yes," Morgan said softly, eyes focused on nothing. "The only refuge an immortal has from on another is on holy ground. No immortal may fight there. All challenges have to be answered, because they can just keep coming after you. All duels are one-on-one. Blades only. I don't have much choice when it comes to fighting, because if someone like Hamilton or Visser Three was to get the Prize, then who knows what would happen?"

"What's the Prize?" asked Cassie, voice soft.

Morgan's expression lost its faraway look, and she focused on the girl sitting beside her.

"No one really knows. Some think that it is all the power of the combined immortals. That we will all be someday pulled to a far off land, and then fight until there is one left. There are also those that think it was a crock of bull made up by some ancient immortal to give an explanation for why we fight. Some think that it would be mortality, to be able to grow old and have children. Others think it is ultimate power. I'm rambling, aren't I?" she asked, looking at the Animorphs.

Jake nodded, but his eyes held pity.

"How many people have you killed?" asked Cassie, suddenly.

"Immortals, or in all?"

Cassie looked like she didn't want to ask, but Rachel answered, "In all."

Morgan again looked outside, into nothing.

"Too many."

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~*~**~~~***~~~***~~~***~

Taylor and Visser Three were discussing what had happened to them.

"She _broke_ my _neck!_" screamed the blond.

Yes, and you survived, said the Visser. She is like us, in that we can't die. When he said this, he lapsed into thought.

Both of them were staring off into space when Hamilton waltzed in. Despite the challenge from Morgan, or Darius, or whatever it was that she was calling herself, he had figured out something amazing, and it was the bargaining chip he needed to get rid of the irritating immortal, and the Andalite Bandits.

"I know how to find the Bandits, Visser Three," he proclaimed, and watched as the two warlords eyes lit up.

~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~*****~~~***~~~****~~~****~~****

"We need to go talk to Mr. King," announced Jake in the silence following Morgan's pronouncement.

"Who?" Morgan asked, a little flabbergasted.

"He's an android. They're called the Chee. They were created thousands of years ago by the Pemalites, who made them into complete pacifists. They can't fight, it's a permanent part of their programming."

There was a strange look that flashed across the young immortal's face.

"That's nice."

"He's the guy that first told us about immortals. He heard about them, but was also the only one of the Chee that believed they existed. He might know something else that might help. 

Anyway, they infiltrated the yeerks, because they have a stake in this world. They infused the wolves of this world with the spirit of the Pemalites, creating dogs."

Morgan stared at Jake incredulously. This was the most absurd thing...

"You have got to be kidding me."

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~****~~~*****~~~***~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~

They walked over the King residence.

Marco was leading the way. He knocked on the door, and smiled hugely when Erek opened the door.

"Hey, this is Morgan," he told the android, gesturing to the stunned girl beside him.

"She's one of those immortals that Mr. King was talking about."

Erek was as stunned as Morgan had been at the idea of dog loving androids. Stepping back to let the Animorphs in, he stared at Morgan, and she stared back. They watched each other as warily as two hawks in the same territory.

Mr. King had heard them, and was also looking at Morgan like she was some kind of bug under a glass. Of course, since she was looking at him the same way, it made for a strange scene.

Rachel finally broke the silence when it stretched out for too long.

"Did you hear about what happened a few hours ago at the yeerk pool?" she asked the younger looking android.

Erek nodded. The story that had come from one of their people was so strange that he hadn't really believed it.

"There was a report saying that Hamilton knew how to find the Andalite Bandits."

"What!" chorused everyone in the room and Morgan started to mutter in a different language.

"How do you know Latin well enough to curse in it?" asked Mr. King.

"Don't ask. I think I know how Hamilton figured it out. He must have sensed me in morph."

Tobias, how was in human morph, looked at her with confusion. "What, so there aren't any immortal Andalites?"

"I think, heck, this is one crappy long-shot, but I think that Visser Three became immortal when he morphed Hamilton. It made him pre-immortal, anyway. There is an easier way to tell, though. Does he have any family?"

She glanced over at Ax for a moment. He was also in human morph, and looking like he would rather be somewhere else.

"His host, yes, had a family. It was a very prominent one. He also had children. I don't remember much else."

"So, I guess my theory has some points," she muttered, and looked up, seeing the 'what-the-hell-has-that-got-to-do-with-it' expression.

"All immortals are foundlings. I loved my adoptive parents, but they did adopt me. We can't have children. No immortal knows who their parents are. I guess that could be a good thing, so we won't have to watch them age, but it would be nice to have blood family."

"I'm sorry," said Ax, who had an extensive family, even if he did have only one brother.

"It's the way things are."

"So, how does this tie into Hamilton figuring out who we are?" asked Jake, trying to get back to the point.

"If he sensed me as the cougar, and I know that I sensed him, he would know that I was human, and thus, if a human had the morphing power, then maybe the others were human as well."

"Couldn't there be Andalite immortals?"

"Gods, I hope not."

"This isn't getting up anywhere," complained Rachel, who had taken Morgan's arm and was shaking her.

"I challenged Hamilton before I left. He will have to answer me, but if he is a coward, be may run. That would be stupid, because I'm a kid, both physically, and by immortal standards. He could defeat me fairly easily."

"So why did you challenge him?" the expressions on the rest of the Animorphs' faces screamed the same question that Erek had just asked.

"Who said it would be _me_ fighting him?"

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~***~~***~~~***~~~****~~~**

Erek the Chee went down the maze of stairs to the yeerk pool. Looking around, and remembering the chaos that had been there, he saw that most of the damage had been superficial. Only Controllers and buildings, he thought disgustedly.

The piece of paper that held Morgan's challenge was in his pocket. He didn't like the idea of her doing this to draw out the space going immortal, but Hamilton had forced her hand. What frightened him was that she had readily agreed that she probably wouldn't survive the fight. Yet, she had reassured them all, that if she died, they would still win.

"How, do you plan to take him with you?" said Marco sarcastically. "That would be a little hard, since he would have already taken your head."

She shook hers.

"You wouldn't have heard of it, but once, a long time ago, a very evil immortal was about to have his armies attack Paris, but before they did, he was met by the oldest immortal of the time, a holy man. They fought, and he took the priest's head. After that, he disbanded his armies, and until his death, worked from holy ground towards world peace."

"And the point of that little story is…?" asked Rachel, snidely.

Morgan sighed. "He was killed later by mortals, on holy ground. He was a friend of mine, and since I was the closest immortal, I got his Quickening. If I am killed, Hamilton will get mine, and all the Quickenings of all the immortals that I have ever had, or taken. He will be changed."

That had been the _weirdest_ story that Erek had ever heard, and he had been around a while.

It didn't take all that long for him to get the message to Hamilton and Visser Three. To keep his head on his shoulders, he had not told the Visser who he thought the Andalite bandits were, only that he knew how to find them.

Erek hoped that this plan, part hair-brained Morgan, the other insane Rachel, with only a dash of sense from Jake, would work at all.

~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~*****~~~****~~*~****~~****~~~~

"Good place for a Quickening," Morgan said as the walked into an old construction site.

"Well, axe-murderers, at any rate," answered Marco.

They had decided that for this confrontation, they would use the place where they had gotten their morphing powers. If anyone saw anything, they would think it was kids playing with fireworks, again.

"This is so weird," mumbled Cassie. She and the others were going to get into morph when Hamilton arrived, so that they would be able to handle anyone else that he might have brought along.

"Yup, tell me about it."

Morgan had started doing some stretches to get ready for the upcoming duel. She had all her weapons on her, and she would start out with her staff.

Doing some backhand springs, she got loose, waiting for the fight to start. She had dressed plainly, tee shirt and jeans, and no coat, because her old one was unusable. 

Tobias and Ax got into position, Ax as a secondary fencer, Tobias in the air for recon. The others had already gotten into position.

The buzz sang through her mind. Looking around, she saw Hamilton. He was standing beside her, with a katana.

Getting her staff into position, she smiled sweetly.

"I am Morgan Pierce."

"Steven Hamilton. There can be only One!"

He brought his katana down into an overhand strike, and she blocked up, and then low, to stop his back sweep. She whirled the butt up to try for a groin shot, but the fight became too furious for thought. Both went into the realms of pure reaction.

It was then that Darius came to the full. He had been slumbering in the back of her mind, along with the other voices that Morgan would often wish were silent.

Hamilton saw her blows become faster, and more forceful.

Then, the buzz of another immortal entered the field of battle.

It startled Morgan. Loosing precious concentration, she turned back a blow, then-

WHACK!

WHACK!

SNAP!

Her staff broke in half, and Hamilton's katana bit deeply into her chest.

"GAH!" Morgan shrieked, blood beginning to pour from her mouth.

Lurching into a desperate back flip, Morgan dived for her blades. Crossing then, her arms screamed with the effort of the block. The almost pain that came from healing followed the agony of the cut. Rolling out of the way of another blow, she started onto the offensive.

Then, she felt another blade slice through her back, severing her spine.

_NOOOO!_ shouted several thought-speak voices in unison.

Ax was already running out to confront Visser Three.

You broke the rules! he snarled at the Andalite controller. He dived in without thinking, and attacked so furiously that the yeerk leader didn't have time to morph.

The other Animorphs dived in to save Ax, and Morgan was on her back. She couldn't feel her legs.

Dragging herself up with her arms, she rolled left, then right, and waited for her back to heal.

_Yes!_ She shouted mentally, as feeling returned to her legs. 

Scissoring her legs, she swept Hamilton's out from under him.

"There can be only one!" she screamed, passing her right hand sword through his neck.

The action stopped as they all felt the atmosphere shift, and the air crackled. Hamilton's body glowed.

"I hate this part," Morgan croaked, voice weak and glaring at the dead body.

The wind picked up, and the lightening started.

Visser Three didn't know what to think, as he saw what would happen to him if he failed. He had been hurt by the bandits, but the immortal was the real threat. Taking one last shot at them, he raced towards the exhausted immortal, who was on hands and knees.

Ax saw this, and reacted without thinking, slashing with his tail blade, and cutting off the end of the Visser's tail.

Visser Three howled in pain, causing him to do a spin on his hind-hooves. He still had the heavy, muscular part of his tail.

THWACK!

The blow crushed the young warrior's ribs, and the shards pierced his lungs. With a last gasp of effort, even as he started to suffocate in his own blood, he slashed, severing the Abomination's head from his shoulders.

A second Quickening hit Morgan, flowing through her, and this time, she screamed in anguish, as the insanity that had taken the Visser, the pathetic yearning, the wasted life of two beings, filled her.

She screamed, pain that bordered on pleasure making her feel like a god, and making her want to puke. Tears ran down her cheeks, and electricity sparked from her teeth, bared in a grotesque smile.

It was over, and Morgan was ignored, for everyone was struggling to get to Ax, because he had fallen to the ground, and hadn't gotten up.

~~~***~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~*****~~~****~~*~****~~~****~~~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~

Natural, boring lightening split the night sky, and was completely ignored. After the light show to the Quickening, a thunderstorm just lacked. 

The Animorphs were ringed around a patch of freshly turned earth, and Tobias had sprinkled flower and grass seeds over the grave, trying to come up with some appropriate gesture for their grazing friend.

Ax was dead. They had known that the moment that they had seen him after the Quickening. The effort of taking Visser Three's head had been too much for him, and he had fallen unconscious. If he had been awake, he might have been able to force himself to morph, but he had instead drowned in his own fluids.

Morgan had taken it as hard as the others. Ax had been the only one to keep faith in her, and she felt responsible for is death.

Silence reined, as the stared at the ground, thinking about what had happened.

Shaking it off, Rachel said softly, "Is there any way we could tell his parents? They deserve to know."

"I don't know… The Chee, maybe?" asked Jake, half-heartedly.

Cassie was leaning against Jake, sobbing quietly. Marco, for once, had nothing to say. In fact, they couldn't say anything. Silence was all that seemed right.

They continued to watch, even though their minds were far from there, Jake thinking that if he had planned things a little better, if he had made different choices, things would be different. Tobias thought about loosing his best friend, and only family. They all wished it had been some kind of dream.

One by one, they left. Cassie and Jake were about to leave, finally, and Cassie put her hand on Morgan's shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked compassionately.

Morgan just shook her head, and stared back down at the uncaring, cold dirt.

Jake and Cassie shared a look, and walked back to the barn.

Morgan's expression revealed a regret that the others hadn't understood, and that she hadn't told her friends about. She still wasn't sure, and she wasn't going to tell the others about. Hope could cut worse than any knife.

"Come on, Ax," she said in a voice that rasped from tears. "Don't let me down."

Again, lightening split the sky.


	5. Default Chapter Title

****

Animorphs Forever 5: Resurrection

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic, Highlander belongs to Rysher, and I don't make any money from this. Whatsoever.

Ax was lost. He didn't know where he was, except that it was warm, and dark; plus, he was tired, so tired. He didn't want to leave this dark, warm and misty place, were all the hatred and bloodshed had left him. There was nothing here but the lethargy of time, of waiting, and-

_Wake up!_

Ax had the sudden feeling that he was being grabbed, and tossed against the ground.

It was like the time he had been sparing with his brother, and had forgotten how strong Elfangor was. His brother's tail had knocked him flat into the dirt of the Dome Ship.

_Wake up!_

With a gasp, Ax noticed that he wasn't really all that warm. His fingers groped around him, and he couldn't move. Dirt pressed around him, smothering him. Ax wiggled, trying to get the dirt that was everywhere off of him. Squirming, he heaved, and grains of dirt showered his eyes. Panicking, he screamed, hoping that someone would hear him, anybody. Racial fear, claustrophobia, bubbled up inside him, and he would have excepted help from Visser Three at that moment.

It was then that he heard the soil covering him sift, and he tried to dig his way out, yelling wildly, I'm here! Someone, help!

AHHH! Ax moaned, feeling clean air surround his eyestalks, and flow through his lungs. A pair of extremely strong hands, too strong to be Andalite, grabbed his, and started to pull him none-too-gently from the ground.

He was in the air briefly, as he emerged from his entombment with a lurch, and fell to the ground with an impressive _thud_.

Ax wheezed, and heard it being echoed from somewhere to his left. It took him a moment to remember that his eyestalks were working… Swiveling them around, he saw a filthy Morgan, head between her knees.

"Hey, Ax," she greeted, and gave him the saddest mouth-smile that he had ever seen in all his time on earth. 

Ax didn't hear the rest of what she had to say, because something caught his attention. It was a large piece of wood, carved into the shape of a human religious symbol. On it was his name written out in English. 

"Yes," he heard Morgan say in the background, "that's where we buried you."

Turning to see if she was lying, wondering why he had this sudden urge to pray, Ax silently begged her to not say what had happened, as if it could keep the only thing that could have caused this from being real. 

"Welcome back from the dead. You're one of us now."

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~****~~~*****

The Animorphs were talking quietly in the barn. They had buried Ax, and were waiting for morning to come. They had left the funeral separately, but had all gone to the barn. Some had homework, others had chores, but they couldn't bring themselves to leave yet. 

I wish… trailed off Tobias, and Rachel picked him up. He was still in bird morph, and his instincts told him to panic, but as she cuddled him, he felt tears hitting him feathers, and knew that she was comforting herself as much as him.

Cassie was leaning against Jake, tears no longer falling, because she had fallen asleep. Jake held her like a talisman against evil, and let her make his shoulder go numb. 

Marco was pacing, in a manner only Marco could manage, crying and being annoying at the same time.

"Hi," said a voice from the barn door.

Jake and Rachel were the only ones to have noticed. They craned their necks to look at the immortal, with their loved ones still in their arms.

Clearing her throat, Morgan wondered how the hell she would break this to them. Ax was their friend, but, oops, it seems that he is an immortal now, he can't be an Animorph anymore, because he has to play in the Game. Sorry. 

Or, how about, " Good news, Ax died, but he is an immortal. We have to worry about someone chopping off his head now."

Of course, there was always," I have good news and bad news. Bad news is, Ax is immortal, the good news is, he will never need a face lift."

No, that would never work…Ah, well, Mac was always getting onto me about my tact…

"Ax is back."

They really weren't paying attention to her. For the most part, they were so busy being miserable that her words bounced off them.

"Hey, you guys…" Jake started glaring at her, because Cassie was starting to wake up.

Marco was staring at her, mad that she was standing in his way.

Rachel and Tobias were also glaring, but Tobias was looking past her.

"EVERYBODY!" Morgan started to yell at the top of her lungs. "AX IS-"

Ax is alive! shrieked Tobias.

Everyone in the barn swarmed around the disgruntled Morgan. Ax had been standing behind her, outside the door, wondering what he was supposed to do. As far as he knew, no Andalite had ever come back from the dead.

He watched as Morgan tried to tell the Animorphs about his apparent return from the dead, when Tobias shouted, and Ax was suddenly covered in hugging humans, and one very happy bird. For some reason, all his fears disappeared, and Ax was happier to be home than he had been in all his life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, what happened?" asked Marco, even as the happy homecoming hit full tilt.

Even Morgan, who had been biting her lip to keep from getting annoyed, turned to stare at him.

"Well, I don't think there are any immortal Andalites," he said defensively.

"I think I know," answered Morgan. She had been trying to get a word in edgewise for some time, but now she felt little urge to talk. Ax would have enough time to worry about his new status later, when he didn't have so much on his mind.

They all walked quietly into the barn. 

"So, what happened?"

"I think," Morgan said, looking at Ax, and emphasizing the word "think", "that it happened because he acquired an immortal. Taylor is one."

This was an unexpected turn of events. No one would have ever dreamed of that happening, and it freaked them out. 

After the sounds of protest faded, Morgan smiled at them bleakly. "Visser Three had turned me over to her after my failed attempt to kill him. She also had Ax. While she was working on him, I think Ax acquired her?" she turned the sentence into a question, looking at the dazed Andalite.

Ax took a deep breath when she asked the question. He knew sometime what Taylor did to him would come up, and that he would have to tell his Prince about it. Only, she hadn't actually _said…_

Yes. I noticed that you were morphing, and that Taylor had heard something. To keep her distracted, I acquired her. It felt- wrong. Not like it should have. It seemed to be changing me.

"I think that it made you a pre-immortal. I don't know why."

Pre-immortal?

"What an immortal is before her first death. Until then, you age, get sick, and heal at the normal rate of normal people until you die."

"This is so weird," whispered Rachel, who was standing over to the side.

Ditto, commented Tobias.

"The big question is, what do we do now?" Morgan went on.

It was something that they had been thinking of, but hadn't said anything about. Jake and the original Animorphs shared a look, and they then looked at Morgan. She shrugged.

"What would you do?" asked Jake quietly.

Morgan looked at Ax steadily. "I couldn't tell you. It's up to Ax. Though, I would find him a teacher that could teach him the ways of the Game, and teach him to use a sword, and how to survive."

Why would I need to learn to use a primitive, human weapon?

"Because, my dear Andalite, if another immortal does catch you, it will be most likely in human morph. There will be no one to protect you, and no where to demorph. You'll loose your head faster than you could sneeze."

Andalites don't sneeze.

Morgan crossed her eyes. "I don't know what else you could do. That is pretty much standard for a newborn. If after your first death you don't find a teacher, you generally get killed. Who knows how many kids have died because they didn't know what they were?"

I do not wish to play in the Game. Is there no way that I could avoid it? he said in a pleading voice. All his eyes were on the young immortal, who was staring back, just as helplessly.

"I would prefer it, actually. But there are going to be times when you can't avoid a confrontation. It's just the way that it is. I tried; I stayed on holy ground for almost two mill-" Morgan stopped. She rubbed her temples, and took several deep breaths.

They couldn't see it, but Morgan was trying to separate her mind, minds, from each other. Darius, nor she, did this on purpose. They just happened to be so close that they couldn't avoid each other's thoughts.

"You okay?" asked Cassie.

"Fine," she answered, not looking up. "Two Quickenings in one night make for a bad headache, is all."

"Ax, until the war with the yeerks is over, there is no real reason for you to get involved with the Game."

Well, look at it this way. We have two immortals now. That will definitely be a big boost to our forces, said Tobias.

"Oh, yeah, this will do us a lot of good," Morgan muttered, sighing. One immortal that didn't know who she was half the time, and another that had no real idea what he was getting into. Yep, this was great.

"I wish that I was still in France!" she groaned, while the Animorphs looked at her like she had lost her mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The adjusting to having another immortal in their midst wouldn't be easy.

Cassie watched as Morgan walked a shaky Ax back to his scoop, and then returned. 

"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Morgan asked softly, when she had gotten up into the hayloft. 

"Yeah, Ax didn't want to talk about it much, but, did something happen to you when you where in the yeerk pool?" asked Cassie, voice soft.

Morgan winced. "Hit it dead in the black," she grunted under her breath.

Louder, she continued," I really can't tell you. It's for him to say. I can only help."

Cassie watched as the girl immortal's usually mobile face went still. She was staring at nothing, a glazed look on her face.

It was alarming. Taking her by the shoulders, Cassie shook her gently.

"Hmm?"

"What was that?"

"Ah, immortal's tend to have photographic memories. I was someplace else for a little while, and..." She looked away, then back at Cassie. If there was ever someone Morgan could confide in, it would be Cassie, she thought, weighing the possibilities in her mind. But, if I was to go nuts someday...

Looking Cassie over, Morgan thought she could see the kind of quality that had made Darius so special. It was really indefinable, except, maybe as holiness.

"The Quickening. I've taken five heads since I became immortal. But my friend Darius... I killed him, for all that someone else held the blade."

Morgan's eyes were on the ground as she said this. Cassie wasn't the type to judge easily, but she might hold her killing against her.

"I'm sorry," said Cassie, sounding compassionate.

Morgan looked up. She needed to get this off her chest.

"I met him when an immortal chased me into a churchyard..."

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"We need to get Ax a sword," Morgan said to herself as she walked behind Rachel and Cassie in the mall.

It had been two weeks since Ax's first death, and they were still getting accustomed to the idea.

"What was that?" asked Rachel, who had been discussing fashion with a very bored Cassie.

"Nothing," she chimed, and saw the book store. Gazing longingly at it, she wished desperately that they could do something fun for a change. Like visiting a library, or maybe training...

Splitting off, Morgan ambled over to the bookstore. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ax was with the boys of the Animorphs, who were at the arcade. While he had to admit that the games had a certain charm, for all their lack of sophistication, he wasn't interested in them. 

There was a loud buzzer from the back of the room, and it made him jump. Humans can't jump all that high, but when you are in a human body, it can certainly feel like it.

"Whoa, Ax, switch to decaff," hissed Marco, sarcastically.

"I have not consumed caffeine today."

Marco looked at him strangely, and Ax did his best to look normal again.

He was still getting used to the idea of being immortal. It wasn't something that he ever wanted to get used to. Whenever Morgan came around, he felt like someone had but his head in a cooking pot, and stirred.

He felt like that now, only it wasn't coming from Morgan. His eyes darted around, and he wished desperately that he was in his real body. Then, he would have spotted the other immortal in no time.

_Odd,_ he thought, _it wasn't as "loud" as Morgan's…_

He spotted a young human male with a similar expression on his face. Their eyes met, and the young man smiled cruelly.

Ax was a member of a grazing species. Their first instinct was to run, not fight. It had take millions of years for them to evolve the tail-blades, and their warrior traditions.

He felt like that now. The human was coming towards him, and Ax decided that if he could, it would be best to avoid him. Marco, Jake and Tobias were surprised when Ax walked speedily out of the arcade. Seeing the look on his face, his hunched shoulders, Tobias glanced around the room, and saw the other man that was looking at Ax. It took him a minute to realize what was happening.

"Oh, no," he whispered, and got Marco and Jake's attention.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You would think that they would have some decent comics, but _no,_" Morgan muttered. She didn't have any money on her, but she had hoped to be able to read a few of her favorite comics before she would have had to leave. Unfortunately, everything they had there was several months old, and there had been no manga whatsoever. 

Instead, she had started browsing the book titles, and hoping that they would have the next book in one of her favorite series, but it wasn't there either.

This had her muttering phrases in the language of the Goths. Old German sounded nasty whenever she used it, and its swear words had a ripping, tearing sound that expressed her mood perfectly.

The feeling of another immortal brushed her mind, and she immediately came to attention. Scanning, she saw Ax walk by the shop window, walking hurriedly. This was odd, but she was about to dismiss if from her mind, when she felt another immortal pass through her range. Seeing the tall man that was following her friend, she grimaced, and headed out of the store. Whoever the hell this man was, he would have to go through her first.

Morgan didn't notice the mortal that detached herself from the other shoppers, and followed her out into the bustle of the mall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ax was hurrying. The only way out for him now was holy ground, and his mind was trying to keep the adrenaline pumping through his body from making him panic, and he wasn't having much luck. Sweat was turning the back of his artificial skin damp, and he was jumping at shadows. He kept having memories of… _Don't think about it,_ he told himself firmly.

The feeling of yet another immortal hit him, only this time it was powerful enough that he was able to recognize it.

Turning, he looked to see a familiar figure in overalls covering her morphing outfit. Morgan hadn't been able to get a new coat since her old one had been ruined, but the old work clothes, castoffs from Cassie's father, had enough room in them that she could make any number of odd weapons disappear.

The other immortal had turned when he had sensed Morgan, and he stopped briefly in confusion, especially when Morgan let out a laugh, and ran towards him. The expression of shock, not to mention revulsion, when she jumped up and landed a kiss on his face was something that Marco would have thought extremely funny.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down. Then she let him go, and he turned, and walked away, sneering at Ax. Ax walked over to Morgan.

"What was that about?" he asked her, quietly.

Putting a friendly arm around his shoulders, she whispered in a deadly serious voice, "Nothing to concern you about. We better hurry, or you'll be late for the movie."

They had decided that the best way to get Ax's mind off what had happened would for him to see a "chick flick". What that could be, Ax had no idea, and was a little worried about that.

Cassie and Rachel were running up behind them, and Tobias and the others weren't too far behind.

"Are you all right?" asked Jake, fear clouding his face.

Morgan smiled, stiffly. "It was an…old…acquaintance."

The way that she had put the emphasis on the word "old" put their guards up. Looking at her, she nodded slightly.

Saying loudly," Let's get to the movie," gave them the cue that Tobias and Ax needed to remorph, so they would be good for the next couple of hours, they rushed to the dressing rooms.

"Where are you going?" asked Cassie, the only one left now that they boys had gone to help hide the morphing, and Rachel had gone to get the tickets and popcorn.

"The restroom," said Morgan, as she did her best to casually walk down the hall. "If I'm a little late for the movie, don't worry about it, just go on without me."

Cassie shrugged, and watched her go off. It was after Morgan had rounded a corner, that she realized that she had gone in the opposite direction of the restrooms.

"Oh, no," she said, and tried to find Rachel. She had to stop Morgan from making a big mistake.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~~**~~~***~~***~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~~~***~~~**

Morgan had broken into a run when she had gotten out of sight of Cassie, and had run up an escalator. Finding a service corridor, she searched for some kind of way to the roof.

"Thank god for library cards," she muttered, and pulled hers out a pocket, using it to pick the lock of the door that led to the top of the mall.

_Yes!_ She thought fiercely, as the door came undone.

Jogging slowly, Morgan felt a growl come from deep in her chest. Time to hunt.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The immortal known as John Tyler had also found his way to the roof. 

He had noticed the young immortal in the arcade, and while he had not been the quarry that he had been seeking, had thought that a little sport might be fun.

Only then, when he had been about to corner the kid, he felt a buzz that nearly made him fall over. He had been even more shocked to find that it had been coming from a girl, slightly older than the boy, he guessed, suddenly caught, kissed, and challenged him!

His Watcher had said nothing about the boy, but the girl, Morgan, she had mentioned, after he had said that he felt like a challenge, but one that he could beat. She had looked through the recent reports, and found one that made him thrill with joy. A girl, physically fourteen, not much older, but had been trained by the Highlander himself; she would make for a nice little sparring match.

Then where the hell had this wildcat come from?

It was then, as he scanned the area, that he saw his wild card; his Watcher in the background. 

He felt almost stung as the overwhelming sensation of Morgan's sense washed over him. For a moment, he closed his eyes, and he almost tasted the harsh, grating feel of her. There was something odd about this girl, one that he had yet to figure out.

She was waiting for him, a pair of _si_ in her hands. Somehow she had found time to paint her face, and add some strange dye to her hair, making her look like she was the boogieman. 

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~****~~~***~~~***~~~~

Cassie had run into Rachel, and they had decided that they didn't have enough time to get the others. They would have a major handicap, without Ax to help, but they figured they could find the sound of weapons clashing easily enough.

Racing out of the mall, and into a loading dock, they heard something they never expected; something that made them freeze in horror. It was the sound of gunfire.

~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*

Morgan had taken a few hits, but she was far from beaten.

There was a slash across her forehead, where she had ducked a few seconds too late, but in comparison, her opponent was much worse off.

She had hamstrung him, and he was unable to use that leg before it healed. Slashing upwards after an axe-kick, she stabbed him through the throat.

Shock pasted the man's face white, and blood burbled up through his mouth. Yanking her weapon free, and kicking aside his sword as it fell from his suddenly nerveless grip, she said the traditional-

"There can be-" and something slammed into her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*

Hannah, Tyler's Watcher, had been skulking in the shadows when she had seen that the little brat had nearly defeated John.

They had battled to the edge of the roof, when suddenly, the girl's kick had unbalanced him, and she had stabbed upwards. Seeing this, Hannah had acted instinctively. Raising her gun, she fired three shots, and they impacted into the back of the youthful immortal.

Rachel and Cassie heard this, and were already running to the roof. They had shed their clothes, and Cassie was already part owl. Raking her claws, and screeching, she dived at the woman that held the gun aimed at her friend.

"What!" Hannah gasped, ducking. To her side, she failed to notice that Tyler had fallen off the ledge, and that Morgan was headed for her. A fist smashed into her jaw before she could turn around.

Morgan was hissing in pain while Cassie demorphed.

"Are you all right?" Cassie asked, more out of reflex than anything else.

In response, Morgan grunted. She really wasn't paying her any attention. Casually, she went through the unconscious woman's pockets, and took her gun, and the ammunition that went with it. Her wallet, after scanning the ID, and rifling through for some more information, she took the money.

Rachel had joined them, and was looking at her aghast.

"So, you gonna be robbing us next?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, you haven't tried to shoot me yet," Morgan answered, still looking around the roof. She spotted Tyler's dropped sword, and picking it up, looked it over. Then she checked her shoulder. It hurt terribly.

"You know, if someone could make clothing immortal, then we could make a fortune from you alone," Rachel said in disgust, eyeing Morgan's now-torn clothing.

"Hmm. Don't have the money, thanks. Look's like Ax now has a sword," she commented, wiping the blood off on the unconscious woman's clothing. 

There was a moment's hesitation, and Morgan touched Hannah. Cassie's mouth tried to hit the ground, as Morgan acquired her. She then continued her callous searching.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cassie said, shocking herself with a snarl.

The face that turned to her made her feel cold. Morgan had grabbed the arm of the woman, and was pointing at something. There was a strange tattoo on the woman's wrist.

"She's one of those mortal bitches that killed Darius," she told Cassie flatly. Taking the borrowed sword, she swung up-

"Don't!" Cassie yelled, grabbing her wrist.

Morgan only looked at her, but her arm came down.

"Let's go," she said roughly, and they left the roof.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ryan Carpenter, Morgan's Watcher, gaped in awe. He had seen the girls that Morgan had befriended start to change their shapes, but as wild as that had been, it had been the fact that his immediate superior had also been on the roof. It was a Watcher's solemn duty to observe and record the goings-on of immortals, but she had fired shots at his charge.

He would have to report this.

Ryan was still looking up at the roof when Morgan looked down at him. For a moment, their eyes met. Then she turned, and he could hear one of the other girls shouting for her not to kill that woman. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. Hannah would still be around to answer to Watcher justice.

His face hardened as he glanced over at the Dumpster that Tyler had fallen into. The immortal would be waking up soon, and while he wanted to take the man's head himself, he still believed in his oaths. He would go now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What was that about?" Marco asked when the girls walked back into the movie theatre. 

Ax saw Morgan's bloody clothes.

"You didn't have to fight him for me," he said softly, touching the bullet wounds. "How are you going to explain a headless body?"

"I didn't get his head. He fell off the building before I could, and then some mortal started shooting at me," she told him in a terse whisper as she sat down. She was sitting stiffly, and he noticed a glint of metal.

"Oh, yeah, I got his sword. I can start training you some."

Ax didn't know what to think about that, but he did know that he didn't want to be dependent on Morgan the rest of his life. He agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The movie was over.

Walking slowly out of the theatre, the Animorphs were trying very hard to keep a normal appearance. They were having more than a little trouble with that.

They had gotten around a corner when they realized that –again- Morgan was missing. 

"What has she gotten into now?" asked Cassie, who was the first to notice.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Morgan wondered what else could go wrong with tonight. First, she had had to challenge somebody, then she had been shot at, and now she was being followed. Whoever this person was hadn't called what he had seen to the authorities, but that didn't mean anything. So, hoping that whoever it had been had not seen the Animorphs, she had again split off from the group in an effort to lead him away.

The man looked oddly familiar. That was strange, because she moved around so often, that there were so many new faces in a crowd that he should have stayed unremarkable in her mind. Yet…

He was following her. He had been for some time. In a few days, if he didn't know that she knew about him, then, she could observe him. So far, he hadn't done anything _but_ watch…

Grimacing, and hoping that the Animorphs wouldn't get their panties in a wad about her disappearing again, she rounded a corner and jogged off to find them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey!" she said, and the Animorphs collectively jumped, all except Ax, who was clutching at his head. For a moment, Morgan had the hilarious notion of them all having anime sweat drops on their heads. 

"What is it?" asked Jake in a tired voice. She had given them one to many worries this evening, and they were supposed to be relaxing.

"Nothing, I just had to tie my shoelace," Morgan lied quickly.

"You sure you aren't out headhunting?" joked Marco.

"Nope, wasn't hungry."

Now the look she got made her wonder if they would all fall over. She giggled. She _hated_ it when she giggled.

Together, they went back to Cassie's barn. 

Only Morgan noticed the car that was following them.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

"So, what happened out there?" Hannah asked John. While he had been the one to take a fatal wound, it was she that was being nursed. John had been shocked that he had come back; he had been certain that she would finish him off. As it was, while he was alive, and could breathe, his voice was hideously hoarse.

"I was surprised. There was nothing in your records to suggest that she was so strong."

"Well, she was trained by the Highlander. What did you expect? Plus, she is one of the harder immortals to keep track of. Her Watcher has lost her and given her up for dead twice. You're what, ninety years old? Who would have guessed that a baby would be able to almost beat you?"

John grunted and handed her another ice pack. Balancing it on her head, Hannah went on, "Her Watcher, if I'm correct, was there tonight. We'll have to make arrangements to get rid of him."

Tyler smirked. 

"Leave him to me."

~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~

Hannah decided that it would be a good idea to tell the Council that young Ryan had disappeared after reporting some extremely strange behavior on the part of his immortal, Morgan. This wasn't all that big of a stretch, because he had been reporting that she had been acting odd for years. In fact, she had been throwing the Watchers a loop since she had become immortal. She moved around constantly, and it was hard to keep track of a vagabond. In fact, her staying here for as long as she had was something of a record for her. 

Smiling, Hannah wondered if Tyler had ever wondered what her last name was. 

With a few more absent taps to the keys of her computer, she signed off, as Hannah Horton.

~***~***~***~***~***~**~***~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~****~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~

"No, you hold it like this!" Morgan growled in annoyance. The idea of fighting with a sword was alien (no pun intended) to Ax. He had almost picked it up by the blade! _What kind of a fool was this boy? _She thought in frustration as she as swatted the blade from his hand _yet again_. Morgan had at least managed to keep a firm grip! But then, she told herself, she had been accustomed to the idea of sword fighting since she had picked up her first mythology book. She had even toyed with fencing before she had become immortal.

Shaking her head, she decided that maybe she should have tried some basic karate first. By now, she had learned so many bits and pieces of different styles, all informally, that she was truly eclectic. This could definitely hamper any teaching that she might do, but it would give Ax more in the way of coordination. Which was something that he needed, badly.

Shaking her head and putting her swords away, Morgan looked at her weary student, and wondered if it would hurt his feelings if she burst out laughing. She hadn't even broken a sweat yet, but Ax looked like he had beaten within an inch of his life.

"Okay, warm ups. You'll need to stretch out your muscles so you won't hurt yourself with what we're doing next," and this time, she did snicker at the look of terror on her friend's face. 

Thinking back to her own training, Mac had been merciless with her, but once she had excepted what had happened to her, she hadn't complained, much. The only time that she really got mad was when he had taken away her beloved comics and art supplies. 

_Poor Ax,_ she sighed. _This isn't really fair, but-_ she looked over at him, as he tried to imitate her movements. He wasn't having much more luck in that than he had earlier- _being immortal isn't fair. He'll have to learn if he is to survive. Simple as that._

"First off, stretching kick. Humans might not be four footed, but since our center of gravity is different, we have much better balance, and can use our feet as weapons. So…"

Ax felt awful. He had never realized that humans had to do so much to learn to fight. Yet, he felt a weary confidence. He had done his best, and he had gained an appreciation for what humans had to do to learn to fight. He hadn't realized that their hands were that strong.

Wincing, now that he was back in his Andalite body, at the remembered feel of Morgan's hands crushing his wrists when he had gotten mad, and attacked her.

"Instinct is fine for morphing, Ax, but it won't get you very far when you're fighting someone that is trained."

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

AHHH!

"What!" Morgan yelled, jumping backwards.

Don't do that!

"Uh, okay. I was hoping that you could help me work on my speed. You're damn quick when you're in your real body, so I was thinking that you and I could spar that way."

Ax looked at her like she was crazy. Well, he had ample proof of that, but this was a little more so than usual.

Are you sure? he asked.

Morgan nodded, and held up her butterfly swords.

Wondering what _else _could have possessed this insane human, Ax also got into the Andalite equivalent of the guard position.

"Go."

In the woods, far off enough that he couldn't be seen of the immortal, Ryan watched in awe.


	6. Default Chapter Title

****

Animorphs Forever 6: Who Watches

Disclaimer: Animorphs do not belong to me, they belong to Scholastic, and Highlander belongs to Rysher. I make no money from this. In fact, it's a pretty big waste of time, but then, what is time to be used for anyway?

Hannah Horton, the Watcher of John Taylor laughed a little, and the sound of madness lurked under the gentle, happy tone. She was starting on her plan to rid the world of those unnatural creatures known as immortals, just like her cousin had begun. The only difference would be that she would be far subtler about it. She snorted, wondering how Tyler's attempt to kill that upstart Ryan Carpenter was going. He had to kill the little brat, and soon.

Checking her email, the Hunter choked on the coke she had gotten.

The Council had decided that they were going to investigate what she had said. They were sending out one of their researchers, who had (unfortunately) much experience at this sort of thing. His name was Adam Pierceson.

Snarling under her breath, she whipped out her cell phone. She needed to call John.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*

It was late. The sun had fallen several hours ago, and Ax was watching his television. Tobias had decided to go to sleep earlier, so he was alone.

Then-

Ax's eyestalks wildly scanned the area, trying to find the source of the buzz that shouted through his head. There was the sound of a human sitting behind him, and he whirled around.

His tail-blade landed at the base Morgan's neck. Her eyes where wide, but that was the only sign that she must have been startled out of her own wits.

"I'm unarmed," she said quickly, and Ax relaxed. He had been tense, but the soreness that he still had from her training, (which he privately felt was torture) lingered. He didn't think that fighting would do any good tonight.

Hello, Morgan. What are you doing here?

"Why are any of us here?" she responded, face solemn but mischief glinted in her eyes.

Is that sarcasm?

"Um, it's actually my lame attempt at humor."

Oh.

Ax was watching her watch him. It was like she was bursting to ask him something, and it was like seeing her as a young child. There was nothing of the fierce warrior that he had met (and suffered under) earlier.

"What was your world like?" she asked suddenly, startling Ax out of the slight reverie that he had drifted into.

Huh?

Morgan grimaced. She started talking so fast that he really didn't get much more of the gist of what she was saying, which seemed to be that ever since she had been little, she had always wanted to meet an alien, that she had given up on that when she had become immortal, because that would mean that fantasy was real and not sci-fi, and that she was really hoping that he would tell her about what he was.

When she stopped for breath, Ax wondered what she would do if he started laughing. He stopped himself, seeing that she was really interested in what his life was like, and who he was. She really wanted to get to know him.

To his own surprise, he found he wanted to tell her. It had to do with letting her know that his kind weren't that great, that they were more alike than they knew. How his kind were at fault for what had happened to the galaxy.

He also wanted to tell her about his family, the first time that he had ever morphed, or when he had had a pet _hoober_ when he had been a child.

Folding his legs beneath himself, he sat on the ground, human-style, so that they could face one another. 

I'm from a planet that we call the Andalite homeworld…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They had talked late into the night. For the first hour or so, it had been strictly factual. Ax had told her facts and figures about space and time, and what he had learned in school. This had gone from there into what his parents had taught him, and finally, for such a long time that he was very glad he didn't have a mouth, he spoke about his brother, and what life had been like after he had come to earth. Morgan listened to all of it, and she laughed with him, and cried when he couldn't. 

It was amazingly cathartic. Ax was able to put his old life behind him now, so that it wasn't dragging him back like a dead weight. He was immortal; he accepted it, and knew that there was no way that he could go home now. But then, he thought bitterly, I doubt that they would ever let me go home anyway.

_Do you even want to? _A voice asked inside his mind softly.

Ax didn't know.

He was surprised when human arms found their way around his shoulders. Seeing that Morgan was trying to comfort him, he leaned into her. He wasn't alone.

"Sorry," she mumbled into his ear, when he pulled back. "Mac did the same for me after my first death. You have no idea how often I cried myself to sleep."

For a moment they looked at each other, then they burst out laughing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adam Pierceson was annoyed. The stories about this little rogue immortal were more than irritating. For one thing, if she was trained by MacLeod, then there was no reason for her to be going around killing mortals for the fun of it. Mac tended to give all his students that same damned Boy Scout attitude. 

He sighed. Adam had told MacLeod about her, but he lacked the heart to do the executing himself. Methos, the five thousand year old immortal would have to do it himself. Not that it would be very hard. 

Leaving the airport, Methos decided that he might as well get this messy business over with. Hailing a cab, he went to his motel room to set up a meeting with Hannah. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

What the hell?! screamed Tobias as he returned from hunting. There was a human out in the woods, with binoculars. 

Staring, Ax swooped down, then banked off. Whoever this person was, he definitely was watching Ax and Morgan train.

Hey, Ax-man, Morgan. There's some guy watching you.

Ax was about to turn to him, but Morgan decided to attack full force, and knocked his sword from his hands. Taking him down in a wrestling move, she whispered something in Ax's ear.

He nodded, and they took the fight behind a tree. The next thing that Tobias saw was a cougar and an Andalite rush out from behind the tree, running towards the man.

"WHAT?" Ryan shouted, as he saw the weird alien run at him. There was a growling from behind, and he was knocked to the ground by a large cat.

The dagger blade at the end of the alien's tail rested at the base of his neck as the puma backed away. He watched in awe as it blinked at him, seeming to close its eyes in concentration. Then, in a weird, disgusting fashion, it again became the body of Morgan Pierce. 

She grabbed his wrist, snarling as she saw the tattoo. 

"I killed some people with that mark, right after they killed the best of us," she hissed at him. The alien beside her turned his eyestalks to her in surprise, and his posture became a questioning one. Morgan shook her head.

"No, I don' think he has anything to do with the yeerks," she said, and Ryan tried hard to figure out what she was responding to, and what she was talking about.

Then her head snapped around, and she stared at the alien with such ferocity that he wondered what it was that she had heard.

"I swore that I would avenge Darius. If Cassie hadn't stopped me, I would have killed that bitch on the roof. This man was clearly following us, and since he made the mistake of being caught," she grinned, her teeth bared. Even with human teeth, she looked like a cat; "He deserves to get eaten."

She shook her head, "No, I'm not going to eat him! I'm not a cannibal, I'm quoting!"

Figuring that now would be a good time to speak in his own defense, the comment about Darius giving him an idea, Ryan stuttered, "They were rogues that killed Darius, the rest of us had nothing to do with it!"

This was not the politic thing for him to say, because his oath as a Watcher forbade it. Yet, it was obvious that Morgan knew something about the Watchers, and part of it was wrong. If he didn't say something, he had the sinking feeling that she would go around and start killing everyone that she happened to find, starting with himself. 

_She has good reason to think that,_he thought to himself. If she had witnessed Darius' death, and she had been shot at by Hannah. Silently he cursed the Hunters for what they had done. Ryan greatly admired Darius, in fact, all of the loyal Watchers did. Their oaths were supposed to keep them neutral about the Game, but this did not preclude personal opinion.

Morgan looked back at the alien. "Alright, alright, I won't kill him." She conveniently left out that fact that Darius was screaming at her inside her head. She was getting a thunderous headache. 

Sir, said a voice from within Ryan's head. Ryan promptly made him jump, and he looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the noise that didn't come from anywhere.

It is I, said the alien, waving. Nodding, and hoping that he wasn't loosing his sanity, Ryan put his attention of the blue guy.

I would suggest that you cooperate with us, beginning with telling us your name. I am afraid that you will be with us at least three days. Until then, we won't kill you. At least, he said, again looking at Morgan, who was fingering her swords, **I** won't.

Ryan wondered what would happen if he happened to faint.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~~*~

Hannah sighed as she spoke to Tyler. The man was starting to become bothersome.

He was starting to think that he was indispensable to her plans. She would have to disabuse him of that idea soon enough. However, that was for later. Right now, she had a researcher to kill.

~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~***~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Why the hell don't you want to meet at the airport?" asked Methos, who now shouting into the phone in his motel room.

"Because," said the voice at the other end of the line, "It would be too out in the open. We need to meet someplace that is fairly obscure. I think that Morgan has found out about the Watchers. We don't want her stumbling on to us, now, do we?"

Methos grumbled about this for awhile, but decided that there was nothing wrong with what she was saying, except for this nagging feeling in the back of his mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, now we have these people who watch immortals," said Jake, when they were having yet another meeting, but this time, it was at Ax's scoop.

"A secret society of peeping toms," snickered Marco.

Morgan wasn't really all that thrilled about it, but she really didn't care. They were the people that had killed Darius, and 'revenge mode' was something she had never really grown out of.

"What do we do about it?" asked Cassie.

"I guess we wait to see if he's a controller or not, and when we find out, then we decide."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~

They had decided to leave Marco and Jake as guards on Ryan, because Morgan and Ax had been doing it the whole day. Morgan was worn out, though she wouldn't admit it. She had been questioning Ryan, and the toll had been taken in what she had not done, and the mental war besides. They had decided that they needed some time off.

So, of course, they went to the mall.

"Is this a good idea?" asked Morgan as they walked down the halls, with Tobias and Ax in tow. She started to yawn. She had kept having bad dreams for the past several nights about strange alien cream pies attacking a bakery, in which no immortal could fight. They didn't make much sense, but for some reason, she hadn't been able to sleep through any of them. This discounted the ones about the evil refrigerator and tennis shoes that were plotting to take over the world. She could sleep through those.

"Well, we needed something to do," said Rachel, who was dragging Cassie into a shoe store.

"Couldn't we find a gym, or something?"

The looks that the other two girls gave her were venomous.

"Ooh-kay," she said, putting her hands up in surrender, then covered her mouth in a yawn.

Tobias and Ax had broken off, and Ax was having trouble getting used to the idea of wearing a long coat. He kept adjusting it all the time.

Morgan had mellowed out enough that she was even helping Rachel find shoes for Cassie. It seemed to her that it was Rachel's self-sworn duty to make Cassie dress like she did…

She was carrying her fourth box of shoes over when she felt another immortal, causing her to drop the box.

_What is with this?_ She thought. _Is there a special sale for swords that I don't know about? An immortal discount?_

Her head whipped around, and she had left the store before Cassie and Rachel had noticed.

"What? Is there some kind of sale that we don't know about?" smarted Rachel.

Cassie's eyes went huge. "You don' think-"

Rachel figured it out also, and they split up, wishing that they had not somehow gotten caught up in a game that they knew nothing about.

~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*

"Okay, do I go to the roof again, or stay on the ground?" Morgan murmured to herself as she ran in the direction of the strange immortal. The thought crossed her mind that maybe she ought to be running _away_, but she had a student now, even if she didn't want him. He was lots more easy pickings, and she wasn't about to let him be some immortal's meat.

She didn't notice that she had started to think in Gaelic. 

~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, what was it that you were going to tell me?" Adam asked Hannah, who was standing directly in front of him.

"Well, other than the fact that Morgan seems to be out of control, I really have only one thing to say," she answered, but was cut off by the strange way that Adam's head suddenly jerked. That was interesting, very few people did that, only when they heard something unexpected.

Or if they sensed an immortal nearby.

The shock of what she was seeing nearly made her give herself away too soon.

"She killed her Watcher, and well…"

She trailed off, and backed away. Several large men came out of the shadows.

"I'm afraid that she killed you, too."

Reaching inside his coat, he found his gun, and then-

**BAM**!

The sound of shooting came from behind him, and a small figure ran out. The shot, however, hadn't hit anybody, but it surprised the goons from shooting at Methos. Pulling his gun, and taking several shots at the mortals behind him, he did his best not to kill them. _Damn Boy Scout will be the death of me,_ he snorted to himself.

The small person, definitely the immortal that he had sensed earlier, was shot in the face, and was taking other blows in nasty places, but out of the five goons, only two were alive. 

They were quick work.

Hannah had disappeared, but there was the sound of pounding feet.

Looking at the source of the noise, Adam saw two girls running towards him. He couldn't let them see what had happened. He looked over his shoulder, and noticed that the other girl had quietly died behind him. Swearing, he grabbed her, and threw her over his shoulder. He ran off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rachel had found Tobias and Ax, and they had gone looking in the direction that Rachel had originally started to look in. They had heard the sound of gunfire -again- and it had scared the life out of them. They had rushed to the scene, but all they had found were a lot of dead bodies, and a man that had gotten a hold of Morgan. Without Ax, there was no way that they could tell if he was an immortal or not.

"Man, this girl is not worth it."

Cassie didn't respond, but looked over the dead men.

"Rachel, we need to talk to Ryan."

"What?"

Cassie held up the arm of one of the dead men.

~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~

Morgan came to somewhere very strange.

"Well, I must have been out longer than I thought," she said, this time in German, not realizing it. She was in another cemetery. 

"This was the closest holy ground that I could find," said a voice from behind her, with a drawling British accent.

"Uh- who the hell are you?" she snapped, rolling to her feet. The man was obviously immortal. That was good, because he couldn't hurt her on holy ground, the way that Darius-

Taking a deep breath, she got a hold of herself.

"I'm Adam Pierceson. I was hoping that you could tell me what the hell is going on."

"I'm Morgan, and I will not make the same mistake that I did last time, and let the monster live."

Adam's eyebrows went up at that.

"Monster?"

"Those people with the tattoos. The Watchers. HAH! If I ever, ever get my hands on that bitch again, I'll-"

"Hold it. What are you talking about?"

She then saw the mark on his wrist. Walking towards him in a way that even Death on a Pale Horse would worry about, she pushed him back.

"You are one of them," she said in a space-cold voice.

Adam was so surprised that he kept backing up.

"You are one of those freaks that killed the best of us. Yet you are an immortal too. What did they promise you, his Quickening? They KILLED HIM ON HOLY GROUND! You bastard," she finished, her voice dead flat.

"What are you talking about!" he shouted at her, trying to sort out what she had told him. Holy ground- Darius-

"You knew Darius," he said with certainty. 

"Yes, and all of you killed him, I don't care what that little boy says about you 'watching'. I've seen enough of what you do-"

"It was a bunch of rogues that did it. They called themselves the Hunters. Most of them have been taken care of."

"Right. So, that was why vampire lady shot me; that was why you were meeting with her, and why she interfered with the rules of the Game!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I know that you were a student of MacLeod's. If anything about that Boy Scout rubbed off on you, then you should at least let me tell my side of the story first!"

Morgan really wanted to take his head, but Adam was right. Too much of the Boy Scout was stuck in her.

She said nothing, just crossed her arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Uh, is this the smartest thing that we've ever done? asked Tobias. He and Ax were trying to follow Morgan's trail.

I don't know. Ax had morphed a dog, and was really having to fight the urge to chase cars. He put an effort into holding her scent.

Where do you think that they would have gone?

If the man that took her was another immortal, then they would either have gone to holy ground, or he would have killed her, right their. I doubt that Cassie and Rachel could have stopped him if he had. I hope this means that he isn't waiting to take her head.

You and me both.

Is there any holy ground any where near?

I wish I knew.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, you're saying that this man was attacked by other Watchers?" asked Ryan. He was still tied up, but it had become apparent to him that they wouldn't harm him, so long as he didn't try to get away. In fact, it was almost as if they were trying to protect him from something. He couldn't figure out what it was, other than some vague references to space slugs.

"Yes," said Jake, the leader. He almost felt sorry for Ryan. He was obviously young; probably not even in his twenties yet, and he had stumbled into a war with brain-stealing aliens.

"We don't do that!" he yelled. "There was group led by someone named Horton, three or four years ago that went around killing immortals, because he thought that they were an abomination. The rest of us have vowed only to watch!"

Jake took a deep breath. 

"How willing are you to prove that?" 

"Huh?" asked Ryan. Jake hadn't been looking at him when he said that, he had been looking at the now-pale-faced Cassie.

"If we told you that there was a way for you to prove it, and that you wouldn't be hurt, but we would have to have your permission first."

"What are you planning on?"

Cassie spoke up. "We told you that the reason we are holding you is because we didn't know if you were infested by a yeerk. You have seen us change shape; we can do that with any creature that we can touch and acquire its DNA. I have the morph of a yeerk. I can morph into it, and use it to see if you are lying or not. You wouldn't be hurt, but we do need to find out if you are telling the truth."

Ryan's throat went dry. For some reason, the thought that he had actually be taken captive by a bunch of kids and an alien trying to save the world from brain-stealing slugs hadn't really sunk in, like he thought he would wake up any moment and find that it was some weird game.

Yet, he did have his oaths. That meant that he had to stop any Watcher that interfered with the Game.

"Yes," he said grimly. "I'll do it."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AHHH! shouted Ax, as they passed a grave yard. 

What is it?

They are definitely here, Ax replied, more calmly.

I sensed two immortals in there. That would mean that they are safe.

Let's hope that you're right.

Morgan had been doing her best to keep her temper in check, and listen to Adam's story. He told her about who he really was, surprising both of them, but someone trained by the Highlander wouldn't accept anything less. 

Morgan had vague memories of Darius meeting this man, so she had no difficulty believing it when he said who he was. She hoped that he was telling her the truth about Mac, and- she winced inwardly- about Tessa. If she was really dead… Poor Mac.

He had filled her in on what had happened to him in the years that she had left, but it was hard for her to believe it. It also made her feel dirty, like she had some sort of peeping tom always behind her, like she was being stalked.

"I think I can trust you," she told him, ignoring his comment "It's about bloody time," and wondering how she was going to tell the Animorphs about him. She didn't want him knowing about them, because if the yeerks ever got a hold of him, it would be one of the biggest disasters-

-But, if they could find a way to use the Watchers as a weapon in the war, then…

Possibilities sprang through her mind, and she thought,_ damn, you Darius._

She had been rather effectively steered from her revenge driven thoughts into ones that could get something done. This started a little internal war. Darius wanted her to leave, get back to the Animorphs, and worry about what they were doing. Morgan, on the other hand, wanted to go head hunting.

It was then that they felt the presence of another immortal. The was a woofing, and a large dog, followed by a red-tailed hawk, running into the cemetery.

Are you all right? asked a voice in thought-speak. 

Morgan nodded sharply, hoping that Adam wouldn't notice that she was talking to the dog. That hope was lost though, when-

"An immortal... dog," he said. "I think I have to sit down."

His legs gave out.

"Uh, Mr. Pierceson," Morgan began, "Its a good thing that you're an immortal, because you can't have a heart attack or stoke."

_This is not the brightest thing that I have ever done,_ she said to herself, _but he could be valuable._

"Ax, if you wouldn't mind?" she looked at her student, and the dog gave her a inquisitive stare.

You want me to demorph?

"Yes, we need this guy's help."

To be continued.


	7. Default Chapter Title

**Animorphs Forever 7:**

**Chain Of Redemption**

** **

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic, while Highlander belongs to Rysher, and I make no money from this, please don't sue. I am but poor student.

Methos' legs gave out as he saw that dog that had an immortal "buzz" to it.

Morgan was still hissing through her teeth, wanting to jump off holy ground so that she could kill the little freak that worked for those murders-

Until the voice inside her head took over.

"Methos," Morgan heard herself say, as she felt Darius using her lips. The voice was pitched much lower, and her face had a paralyzed look to it.

Everyone was distracted from the talking dog.

Methos was now getting a better 'feel' of the buzz that rang through his mind, and it was totally strange, but oddly familiar…

"Darius."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"He's telling the truth, Jake," said Ryan's mouth, but Cassie was the one controlling him. "He seems to be a nice kid, over all. Wait a minute…" she trailed off, getting into some of the other memories that still were bubbling up in his confused mind.

"The Watchers really do only watch, and he is the one assigned to Morgan; he has been having an hard time keeping track of her, because she moves around so much."

Jake thought it was eerie, hearing Cassie's tone and inflections coming from someone else, but the information they were gathering was too valuable to worry too much. Also, the guy had volunteered.

"We need to find Morgan and tell her, you guys," Cassie finished, but a massive twitching went through his jaw.

Sorry, Cassie told Ryan, but she explained that Morgan already knew about the Watchers; if she knew that they were peaceful, then she wouldn't go killing them.

Ryan stopped struggling in his own head. The peace coming from Cassie's mind was very reassuring.

We need to get going _now, so I'm going to take over for a bit. Okay? Cassie went on, and as she spoke, she made his body stand, and they headed over to the bus station._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ax demorphed, and Adam thought that if he hadn't already hit the ground, he would have fainted, stroked out, or just go loony. As it was, he only dropped his jaw.

"An alien?" he squeaked; yes, he _squeaked._

"Yup," Morgan answered him, grinning despite herself. Turning to her friends, she gestured. "I think that you ought to tell Methos this story, Ax."

Adam gave her a startled glance. Then, there was an almost audible click, and the impression he had gotten finally made sense.

"You got Darius' Quickening," he said in wonder, realizing what had happened. His personal experience of possession came to the fore.

"It must be interesting, being a two thousand year old man, stuck in the body of a fourteen year old girl," Adam went on, looking at her with his usual smart-ass grin.

She smiled ironically. "We have a time-share deal."

Huh? asked Ax, who had not been told about Darius. Tobias had landed gently on his friend's shoulder, and was glaring into the faces of the two immortals, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I'll tell you later."

I am an Andalite, and we, he gestured at Tobias, Morgan and himself, are the Animorphs. Morgan was surprised that he included her, and heartened by it.

There are a species out there, called yeerks, that have taken over, and destroyed hundreds of worlds…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Does anyone have any idea where they could have gone?" asked Cassie, using Ryan's mouth. They were in the mall's parking lot, and there was no trace of Ax or the others. Rachel had morphed to bird, and was seeing if they were anywhere nearby. She hadn't returned yet.

"I don't know," added Jake softly, listening, trying to think of a plan.

Guys, I found something, several bodies. There was a fight, and since there are no heads, I think our guys won, called Rachel, swooping down in her owl morph.

"So now what do we do?" asked Cassie/Ryan.

"We find them."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So that is the story. I don't know why I became an immortal, or why Morgan wants to kill the Watchers. But we have a fight that we must win.

Ax finished his dialogue, and Tobias tried his best to look through Methos.

I hope we can trust you, Tobias told him.

Death on a Pale Horse hadn't made it through five thousand years for nothing, and while he had survived this long by not getting involved, he also knew that this was bigger than that. There was no use getting through the Game only to have to deal with mind stealing aliens.

_Damn boy-scout, he said to himself._

It was then that another immortal buzz sang through their senses.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Animorphs with Jake were following the trail of blood left by the dead Morgan from the alley, with Jake in dog morph. This made everyone laugh, because the dog morph was always, well, HAPPY. It was happy to be chasing something, it was happy to be running, and it saw all those nice cars out there, and felt really, really, HAPPY.

Only, when they got to where the blood trail ended, no one was really all that HAPPY.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*"LOOK OUT!" screamed Morgan as she sensed the tingle along her nerves. It was all the warning they got before a dracon beam fired at them.

Ax, Morgan, and Methos went flying into the ground, while Tobias went into the air.

"Taylor!"

They caught a flash of the blond Controller, who was pointing a dracon beam at Ax.

Without thinking about it, Morgan had whipped out her two butterfly blades, rolling up to her feet in a defensive crouch, weight balanced to go onto the attack.

"NO FIGHTING ON HOLY GROUND!" shouted Methos, as the two females engaged.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Without thinking about it, Morgan had jumped between the two immortals, and wrenched her body back from Darius. Her hands flew in front of her as she blocked the beam, feeling the metal of one of her blades melt, roasting her hand. She couldn't help it, she screamed. Collapsing to the ground, Morgan looked up in time to see the triumphant smirk of Taylor leering at her. The blond woman grinned hugely, seeing Morgan prone, and reached down to grab the other discarded sword. Holding it casually, she walked over to the moaning Morgan.

"Well, it seems that the only way for one of us to die permanently is to chop off their head. Here goes," she said, insanity lighting her face.

It was then, that the ground split beneath everyone. Gravestones toppled, and the dead seemed to come alive in their cold beds. Shrieks could be heard as power lines toppled, the dirt beneath them writhing as if in agony.

Methos grabbed the younger immortal under the arms and dived off holy ground, and left Taylor staring in shock at the bizarre occurrence. 

The Animorphs, who had been as frozen as Taylor, broke their paralysis and ran after the two immortals.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What just happened? asked Ax, when they had all gotten back to his scoop. Methos was still looking at him like he was (pun intended) an alien, and Morgan was prying the still molten metal off her hand.

"That was the result of two immortals fighting on holy ground," said Methos, recovering his aplomb. 

"The last time something like this happened, it ended up in the destruction of Pompeii," he went on, and grinned, remembering that story. His audience was rapt, now.

Morgan rolled her eyes. Darius had been the person to tell him this story…which didn't make it in the least less impressive.

"..It was a fight between two of the oldest immortals at the time, and they didn't know that they were battling on the site of an old temple of Vulcan, when an earthquake started. There wasn't any time for them to get off, or warn anybody, when the entire mountain they were on blew out from under them. From what I have heard, one of them is still stuck there to this day."

"Still alive?" said Cassie, aghast.

Methos shrugged. "I don't know. It's more than possible. Once an immortal that worked for Hitler was sank beneath a waterfall for over fifty years, and there have been cases of immortals left to starve on islands. And they did, over and over again. Once or twice it was me," he said, giving his audience a grin.

Morgan snorted.

"Was I talking to you, youngster?" he commented, looking her way. Morgan shook the rest of the metal off her mangled hand, and put her hands up.

"I was just feeling all that hot air, old man," she told him, and the Animorphs watched as her hand healed before their eyes.

"We need a plan," Jake said quietly, and the other Animorphs nodded.

"This is one of the strangest things that I have ever heard of," Ryan stated calmly, but sweat was popping out on his forehead.

"Ryan, you don't know the half of it," said Cassie.

"It looks like Taylor has taken over where the Visser left off," said Jake, trying to get everyone's attention. He did, and they discussed what had happened. They had killed Visser Three, but they had to deal with Taylor. The question was how.

"She obviously doesn't know the Rules of the Game," said Methos. "If she did , she would have thought about fighting on holy ground."

Morgan nodded. "We need to get her away from the other yeerks, so I can kill her."

You are going to kill her? asked Ax.

"Who did you think was? The Old Man?"

Ryan had taken the idea of immortals infiltrating the Watchers better than most would have thought. He figured it would have had to happen some time. But Methos was a myth, and the fact that the oldest human alive was there with them, and that Morgan was talking to him so casually made him a little queasy.

I was hoping that, I was hoping that I could be the one to kill her, he said bleakly, and a sad look passed over Morgan's face.

"That is why you shouldn't."

Meanwhile, Methos was looking at Morgan.

"How can you kill?" he asked her, looking at her strangely.

"I am not Darius all the time, Methos. I fight when I have to, and now is one of those times."

"So, how are you going to get her alone to fight? She isn't exactly going to accept any challenge you might issue," broke in Marco, thinking hard.

She gave him a crooked smile. "That is what I have you for, right?"

"So, we distract the people she may be with, and give you enough time to take her head. Does anyone else see a bunch of holes in that?" Rachel commented sarcastically.

Morgan calmly punched her.

"What was that for?" shrieked everybody.

Morgan only smiled.

Looking serious, Morgan went on, "What would you have me do? Can you come up with something better?"

"Taylor doesn't know the rules, so we can't count on her to play by them. Plus we need to find out if there is a place where she is that vulnerable!" Rachel shouted through her split lip.

"You are right," Morgan said grudgingly.She shrugged. "I know that you have some kind of information gathering. You couldn't have survived this long without one. "

Jake blinked.

"We'll look into it."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They broke up for the evening, with the Methos and Ryan staying with Morgan, and the other Animorphs going to Cassie's barn to discuss what had happened.

Morgan looked at her friends go, wishing she hadn't let her temper get the better of her.

_Geeze, _she thought to herself. _Maybe because they make me act my age._

Snorting to herself, she wondered if she had ever acted her physical age.

Turning to her erstwhile guests, sighed, and gestured for them to sit down.

"This is really, really unbelievable," Ryan said, looking at the girl whom he had sworn to watch. He knew that he would get killed for this, but then, maybe he would die with good reason, now.

Seeing his face, Methos understood a little of what was going on in his head.

"This is more important than your oath, and I think that they were telling the truth," the old man sighed. "Besides, immortals have known about the Watchers for a long time now. You can't do any more damage than Horton did."

Ryan grimaced. This was true.

"What we need to do now if find out how we can help them," Morgan said softly, gesturing towards the other young warriors.

The two males looked at her strangely for a moment, and then nodded. They could see the implications of what she was talking about, and they realized the risks.

"I think that I could convince the Watchers to help with information," Ryan said tentatively. "If you were willing to give proof."

"I know several immortals that could help with the fighting," Methos added, not wanting to be outdone.

For two people who had less than a great reason to be cooperative, they were pitching in very fast.

Morgan's thoughts must have been showing on her face, because Methos answered, "We aren't stupid, and we have more than enough evidence that these things are dangerous. We will help."

"Okay, then we need to find a way to distract Taylor…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Are you serious?" exclaimed Rachel. "Why should we trust those guys?" Touching her face, Rachel also said, "I still don't know why we trust Morgan. She keeps secrets, and it is her fault that we have this trouble in the first place."

Jake was sitting on a hay bale, thinking hard. Everyone else was scattered around, looking like they had been hit collectively in the back of the head with a board.

It does not matter what we think of them now, Ax replied, wanting to protect his friend. We are in this situation, and that demands that we plan for it.

"Why you little-"

Ax just looked at her, with all four eyes. 

"They are the only ones who can deal with Taylor on her own terms," Marco stated. He didn't sound too happy about the fact.

"So, we contact the Chee, and see if we can find a time when we can get Taylor alone?"

"Do we have any choice?" asked Cassie, who looked plain worried.

Jake looked up, with his leader face on.

"No. Cassie, morph to owl. We need to do this ASAP."

Cassie was starting to morph, while Jake turned to Ax.

"Go get Morgan and the others. We need to work this out."

~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*

Morgan was sitting still, looking up at the stars, thinking that it would have been her life's dream to see them.

In all her lives, no matter which immortals' memories she was in, the stars had always been a part of them. From the ancient and foggy memories of Darius, and the people he had killed, to her more recent ones, the stars had always been there. Sure, science could tell a person that they were only giant balls of flaming gas, but she didn't care. They were beautiful, and sometimes her only friends.

She sighed to herself, listening to the people talking behind her. An android, an alien who was an immortal, and a bunch of shape shifting humans argued back and forth about what had to be done. 

Morgan knew that she would have to be the one to fight Taylor. There were several reasons.

Taylor already knew about her, and if she were to get away, it would keep her from discovering the identity of another immortal. If Morgan was to win, and other Controllers saw this, they would go after her, and not Methos or anyone else. 

She also knew she was more expendable than anyone else. Ax would probably loose, if Methos lost, it would be a disaster, so she was the only person left. It never really occurred to her to let the other Animorphs try to take Taylor's head. This was a battle of honor.

"So, do you know where she will be?" Jake asked, looking at the robot that was standing there in his true form.

The Android nodded, and told Jake where Taylor would be.

"She's taken up residence in a strange place, above the school gym."

There was some mumbling about that. 

"That is so stupid!" Rachel shouted, and everyone seemed to agree with her.

"I don't know," contradicted Ryan. "Who would look for her there? It sounds like a good idea in hindsight."

There was some more muttering about this, and more plans made. Morgan just listened.

A couple of more hours went by as they discussed who would do what.

Tobias would make sure that she was there first, while Marco and Cassie would scope out the area to see who was guarding her. If the guard were light, they would get Morgan and Ax, who would stay out of sensing range. Then Ax would provide the distraction, while Morgan would go on the attack, while keeping the rest of the guards of her back. Methos would be joining in on this.

They argued and re-argued the point until they were nearly sick, then decided to get some sleep.

Everyone went to their own homes or sleeping places for the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_There are places that are rarely ever thought of awake, and that was how Morgan knew she was dreaming. She was back in one of the few places she had ever felt happy and safe. It was Darius' church._

_She was looking like she had before the accident, red hair, glasses, and chubby._

_In the background, the chants of other priests could be heard, and she could sense Darius to her side._

_His hand gently patted her on the shoulder as whispered softly in her ear, and they both turned._

_Scenes from Darius' life flashed before her, and back._

_The life of a man striving for peace; the evil, maniacal conqueror that he had been; that fateful duel, and behind both of them stood someone so old and powerful, that his presence overwhelmed them both with his holiness._

_His life was next, what he had seen, what he had been. The paths he had taken, and despite seeing the evil in the world, still believing in the Divine._

_Then, her own life came into review. The little girl she had been, and the almost warrior that she had become. The ways that she had tried to help people, and had been rejected, and how she had failed. Triumphs and terrors, dreams and ashes, all were seen in ways that should have been humiliating, but only felt with detachment._

_"You have done what you could," Darius said, then the other behind her. Then there was an echo, and she could feel the souls off all the immortals that she had slain, and their victims as well._

_Cool fingers cupped her chin, and Darius turned her head to face him._

_"Will you do what you must?"_

_~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

_ _

__Morgan woke up, night-sweat making her sticky in the warm air. Getting up from where she had stretched out for the night, she pulled back on the overalls she had discarded a few hours before. 

Walking stealthily, she picked up her remaining sword, found her _si_, and started away from the scoop.

She stepped on a twig.

_Damn!_

Who?

Ax had woken up, and was looking at her with all four eyes, blinking them in turn sleepily.

"Its nothing, Ax, go back to sleep."

Are you sure? he asked, wondering why she was holding her weapons.

"Yeah-" it occurred to her to do something, and it seemed oddly appropriate. 

"Ax, tomorrow, be careful."

He laughed silently, and replied, With the way that you have been training me, I doubt that I could loose.

She walked over to him, smiling as she went. Putting her fingers under his chin, she tipped his face up and gave him a quick kiss where his mouth should be. Then she stabbed him through the chest.

Ax gasped in pain and shock, his weak hands clutching at hers as his legs buckled.

Why?

"I have to do something. Don't worry; you'll heal," she promised, and kissed him softly again. His hearts stopped beating, and fell to the ground.

"I was wondering if you might try something like this," said a voice from behind her. Turning, she saw the form of Methos in the moonlight. He wasn't wearing a sword, or coat.

"Then you know not to stop me," she answered, and she was already looking for her face paint.

"I think that I have to, because MacLeod would kill me if you did."

Turning to face him, her face already white, she grinned feral. "How do you plan to do that?"

She flung her left hand _si_ into his chest before he could answer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It took relatively little time for Morgan to get to the gym. Skulking around the back, she found that the only guards were human. Standing outside the door, she looked inside, and found that Taylor was sitting inside the gym.

The place had the word 'trap' written all over it.

Morgan smiled. She had seen Taylor glance around, feeling her presence before Morgan had felt hers. This told Taylor how powerful the opponent she was facing was.

Kicking open the door between them, Morgan shouted the usual challenge.

"My name is Morgan Pierce, and there can be only one!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ax drifted, in a darkness that was worse than the first time he had died. It was the feeling of betrayal. His friend Morgan had killed him. When he saw her, he would-

~_gasp~_

Walking up, he groaned mentally, wishing again for a mouth that he could make the same expressive sounds that humans did.

To his side, was another loud gasp, and turning, he saw the immortal Methos.

What- just- happened?

His only answer was a long string of curses.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morgan smiled, looking at the younger immortal, who was just sitting there. Her sword and _si_ were out, and she did some unconscious limbering up exercises.

Taylor looked at her, and smirked. She gestured, and both of them felt the buzz.

Tyler crossed the floor to them.

"You can't interfere. This challenge it for her only,"

A dracon beam was fired, and Tyler shouted, "Make me!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the sun was rising that morning, several animals raced to the junior high gym. A large cat, an elephant with a skinny, sinewy man on its back, two wolves and a blue something-or-other, and a large bird made as much speed at their forms would allow, while some prayed that they weren't too late, and others just cursed to themselves.

The tableau that they arrived to was horrific, with a dracon beam being fired, and hitting Morgan in the stomach.

There was a loud groan as she fell to the ground.

NOOOO!

Everyone turned to see Ax frozen still, all of his eyes locked onto the prone form of his teacher and friend.

Tyler, he said formally, training coming to the fore. I am Aximilli-Essgrouth-Isthill, and I will have your head!

His hooves clattered on the polished floor, and Methos cursed loudly as the hidden guards showed up. He tumbled to the floor, pulling his gun.

The fight was joined.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ax moved lightly as a deer, his hooves finding the gym floor to be less than perfect footing.

Tyler drew his new broadsword, watching the alien's tail-blade carefully. Feinting east, strike west, thought Ax, and there was a thin but deep slash across Tyler's chest.

The other immortal's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed. He drew a short dagger in his other hand, and holding his broadsword in a saber guard, they engaged.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morgan watched her student take on his first immortal opponent, and for a moment was not paying attention to Taylor.

This was not good, because Taylor's fist turned into a hilt, with a sword blade shooting out of it.

Rolling left, Morgan missed her thrust, then right, to avoid her kick. Picking up her weapons, Morgan went on the attack, parrying they lashing out with a mountain kick to take out Taylor's arm.

_Clang_

__The kick made it through, but hitting her arm was like hitting a steel wall. No flesh, not matter how tough, could hope to withstand it completely. Morgan's foot shattered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Methos had run out of ammunition. He was down to attacking and defending against the human Controllers that made up the guards. There was a good sprinkling of taxxon and Hork-Bajir, but the Animorphs were taking care of them.

Dracon beams fired, and he was taking hits. One tagged him in the leg, and his knee buckled. This gave him an excellent view of what happened next.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morgan had fallen again, but flipped to her feet. They glared, then the fight went into speeds that could barely be followed. Dodging, Morgan missed the pellets that were shot at her, and then used her injured foot as a battering ram, going for Taylor's human parts.

Taylor fell back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*

Jake was locked with a Hork-Bajir, when another one chopped off his tail. Roaring with pain, he snapped around, and pulled his arm off.

Cassie dashed in to back him up, her thick armor of fur singed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~*

The huge elephant trumpeted, and flung a wounded taxxon into an attacking Hork-Bajir. The other taxxons started to eat both the healthy and the dying with equal relish.

Yuck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tobias dived at Tyler, not caring if this was part of a Game that he didn't want to understand.

No, Tobias! shrieked Ax, diving in again.

Slashing wildly as Ax struck out, Tyler parted wing from body, and Tobias tumbled in the confusion.

NOOOO! he screamed again, seeing red, and used all his speed.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Distraction, confusion and insanity reigned for several minutes as the lightening storm crashed in from nowhere, and struck the blue furred alien. The images that rushed through his mind overwhelmed him for a moment, and he knew why Morgan hadn't told him what it was like.

It was a few minutes too long.

"DIE!" screamed Taylor, as Morgan watched her friend fall, exhausted. Her rapier-sized blade hit her through the heart, and Morgan stared at the crimson stain on her chest.

Taylor giggled, and swung again.

*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The other Animorphs couldn't believe what they were seeing as Morgan's head tumbled to the ground. Blood gushed from the stump of neck, pooling on the ground. No one moved while the saw the trickle, then flood, of energy course through the floor to its target.

Fires started as all the electrical wiring in the building overheated, and all the glass shattered. A tornado swept in, pulling Taylor into the air, where she hung, screaming like a banshee, and the floors cracked.

Ax blinked. Could he see faces in that bright light?

Then, darkness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taylor didn't know where she was.

She had traveled around the world in her capacity as Sub Visser, but she had never seen a place such as this. It was definitely still earth, but the place was – shabby.

Straining her ears, she thought she could make out the voices of men, chanting.

She didn't like that kind of music, and decided to go into the building to make them stop.

Inside, as she entered, the door closed behind her, shutting out the light. Panicked for a moment, she spun around, when an oil lamp lit from her side. Facing where it was coming from, she saw a young woman with green hair; dressed in a duster, blow out the match she had used to light the lamp. Behind her was a tall, lean man dressed like some kind of monk.

Frowning, Taylor opened her mouth to demand that they tell her what was going on.

Then, before she could answer, someone behind them came forward.

"Hello, Taylor," said the Ancient. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

New sunlight, fresh from the new day filtered through the shattered windows and doors, reflecting on the smoke that still billowed out from the gym.

The yeerks had left when their leader had stayed where she was, screaming; or maybe it was that she had stopped screaming, but was lying in a puddle of her own drool.

Ax was looking at her murderously, his tail-blade twitching for all it was worth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"She's dead," Cassie whispered, the first to say anything. No one else had said spoken, hoping to put off the one thing that would make it real.

Yes, Ax hissed, fur bristling like a cat's. She soon will be.

He advanced, when Methos' sword stopped him.

"Don't kill her!"

Yes, I will, he shrieked, becoming hysterical. Yes I will!

"Wait until she wakes up, then you will see what I am talking about."

Everyone looked at him like he was mad.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taylor was locked within the recesses of her own mind, not able to comprehend what had happened. She had given up totally in humanity, but had been confronted with someone who had never. The holiness of the Ancient, and redemption of Darius had been a big part of it, but it was the little girl that had baffled her the most. Everything she had scorned in life, she had done more with her act of sacrifice than Taylor would ever do. She had shown her wrong, and that was something she just could not accept.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Now what?" Morgan asked Darius, as they looked into the prison that Taylor had made for herself.

"She has hidden herself away. Now no one is controlling her body."

Morgan gave a ho-hum look, like she wished she could do something about that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Taylor gave a soft groan, rolling over onto her side.

Ax gave a soft little yowling sound, and tried to make a leap for her.

Taylor blinked at him.

"Blue dude? What has you so worked up?"

The astonishment in everyone's eyes would have made most plates envious.

The end, or until I get asked to more.


	8. Default Chapter Title

Animorphs Forever 8: Wheel Turns

** **

Disclaimer: Not mine, and I plead insanity.

Taylor looked up at Ax, but it wasn't Taylor doing the looking. The gestures, the mannerism, as different as they were, could not have been any more different from the habitual ones of Taylor and a mongoose. 

"I hoped this would happen," Methos mumbled, relief making him almost sag.

Taylor, or rather, Morgan smiled back at him.

"What happened?" shrieked Jake, who was plain confused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, the Quickening was so powerful that it killed Taylor?" asked Marco, later, when they were back in the barn. The clean up from the fight they had left to the Chee. 

Taylor/Morgan shook her head. "She's still here. If she ever accepts that she was wrong, and if she truly _changes_, she can have her body back. Until then, she has retreated totally into her own mind, leaving Morgan the only soul available to control the body."

Silence.

"I ain't touching that one," Marco commented.

"What now?" Cassie asked, looking at the immortals.

"I would think that Morgan, or what are you going to call yourself? Should get back to school, and try starting a new life. Since she is in an adult body, she won't have the same problems as before," said Methos.

Ax was looking at his former friend in a new body cautiously. He still wasn't sure that it was really Morgan.

"I guess that I can stay Morgan, at least for now. I think that I will go back to school…" she shook her head softly. "Then, join a holy order."

Huh? Ax asked, confused.

"I'm, not _all_ Morgan. This is sort of a blending of Morgan, Darius, and a few others. Morgan the most, but still, I need to go and work for peace. This is a task that I don't believe I will accomplish in this life, but, maybe the next-"

Morgan stopped. She sighed, and turned. "I don't know."

"You're not making any sense," complained Rachel.

"Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die," Morgan responded cheekily.

"HEY, EVERYONE!" screamed Erek, rushing into the barn, where everyone was seated. "They Andalites, THEY'RE HERE!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The war was over, and the mopping up action was less than pathetic.

It had helped that the main leader of the enemy was now on their side.

Morgan, posing as Taylor, helped the scars left by the invasion heal more easily. Then she demanded that the yeerks be spared. 

Indeed, some yeerks chose to live peacefully. They were monitored, and then left on a planet, with no way off, with those hosts that chose to stay. Strange, but true.

Then came the last day that the Andalites were on earth.

Ax had chosen to go back with the other Andalites, at least for a while.

He stood with his friends, and said good-bye.

Tobias was in his human form, and Ax gave him a human hug, his best friend, and almost-brother.

"Here," said Cassie, handing him a wonderful smelling bag. He gave her a grin with is eyes. The bag was full of a baker's dozen cinnamon buns.

Turning and eyestalk, Ax saw his Prince, his forever Prince, no matter how high in the ranks he got to be, or whatever else befell him, Jake would be his leader. Always.

He shuddered to himself. Always would be a very, very long time.

Rachel turned her eyes away. He could hear the sounds of her tears, though she would never show them.

Marco cracked lame jokes. It was good to know that there were some constants in the universe.

Ax's eyes searched in vane for the one person that he wanted to see the most. He had wondered if the Chee would be able to find her after the clean up in time to tell her of his leaving. He thought about her wondering why it seemed so important to him.

It was hard with her stuck in Taylor's body. The memories of the tortures inflicted on him haunted his dreams, and seeing her face, even with a different person looking out of them, hurt him dearly. She had seen that, and disappeared after the mopping up action was over. 

Then, a soft, familiar surge rang through his mind.

Turning his entire body, he shouted with glee, Morgan!

Then he gasped, as did everyone else.

It _was_ Morgan; or rather, it was as close as Taylor would ever get. Hacked off green hair, nose ring, long coat, multiple ear piercings and all.

"What, don't you like my new look?"

Everyone gawked for a moment, and they started laughing, although Rachel sniffed and said," I would have hoped that you would have learned some fashion sense by now."

"Well, you gotta go with what you know. I was uncomfortable with the preppy look that Taylor favored. Besides, who would recognize me like this, eh?"

Ax went over, and Morgan hugged him tightly, planting a quick kiss on his face. The other Animorphs stared.

"You do realize," she said softly in his ear, " that you will have to come back, eventually."

Ax nodded. 

I would like to see my parents first, and do some more learning while I'm there. I would like to see if there are other immortals out there, but I will come back.

He pulled away from her, but brushed his fingers across her face in an Andalite kiss. 

They looked at each other for a long time, but then Jake coughed, breaking the mood. 

"Uh. Yeah, well, I wanted to give you something before you left."

Handing Ax a bag, he pulled out a gorgeous katana. The light rippled over the Damascus steel, making it look smooth as water.

Then he noticed something else in the bag.

Laughing mentally, he pulled out a comic book. 

"I couldn't let you get bored on the way back home, now could I?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Animorphs and Morgan watched at the ship with Ax in it lifted away.

I never thought this day would come, said Tobias, back in his hawk form. Many of the others nodded. They felt the same thing. 

"I wonder if we will ever see them again?" asked Cassie, her voice and face reflecting her emotions.

"Things always come full circle," Morgan told her, following the ship with her eyes, then her other senses as it cloaked. "He'll be back; he's part of the Game, now."

The other Animorphs watched her. 

"We have a present for you, too," Jake told her, and pulled something out of his pocket. It was the morphing cube.

"We think you should have the power again. You may need it, because in the Game, we want you to win."

"I'm not playing the Game that way, but never look a gift horse in the teeth," Morgan answered, touched. Then she pressed her hand to the cube.

She smiled as she felt it take effect, somehow even affecting the cybernetic parts of Taylor's body.

Silently, she memorized the faces in front of her, and the feel of them. 

"Even if we don't meet in this life again, I have a feeling we will see each other in the next. Things will come full circle."

Then she left. 

The Game will be played, the Wheel will turn, and things always do come full circle.

The End.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(A/N: I am thinking of writing a sequel to this, and crossing it with Gundam Wing. Anyone interested?)


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